Torture horror movie or Oscar contender...?

Rating: Null/10 (7 February 2017)

Martin Scorsese is a director who is rightly afforded a free reign to direct what he wants to direct in today's increasingly convoluted film business. One of the few prolific auteurs left working in an industry saturated with remakes, super-hero movies & sequels. I am a massive fan of his work and will be the first to defend some of his less 'critically acclaimed' titles such as Gangs of New York .
Scorsese's latest project Silence represents a major milestone in his cannon as he has finally managed to secure funding for a picture that he has been trying to make for almost 30 years. Based on the novel of the same title by Shusaku Endo; Silence follows two priests (Andrew Garfield & Adam Driver) who travel to Japan in search of their 'fallen' mentor (Liam Neeson) at a time when Catholicism is illegal in the region and practising it brought about the death penalty. Scorsese has wanted to make this title from the moment he read Endo's book and now he has finally got this wish. After years of rejection this title has finally been awarded to him and you would hope could be a crowning Jewell in his body of work. Unfortunately in this case he has been allowed to make a movie that should have remained in his list of 'pipe dreams'.
I want to make it clear that I wholeheartedly support intent of this title. It is admirable to honour the brave missionaries that this picture is based on and this is indeed an extremely moving story when you take into account that the book was based on actual events. Unfortunately, Scorsese is unable to create a sense of empathy towards its central characters despite their courageous actions. What we are left with Silence however is a long, miserable title that spends most of its three hour screen time fixated on the awful acts of torture inflicted on its central characters. Scorsese assumes that the heroic acts that these characters are participating in, will be enough to win our affection and completely fails to create well-rounded individuals. I can't help but feel a documentary would have been more than sufficient when dealing with this admittedly interesting and harrowing subject matter.
To add insult to the lack of empathy we feel towards the lead characters are the bizarre accents that Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver & Liam Neeson are invited to use to communicate the dialogue. The missionaries they play are supposed to be Portuguese and in search of authenticity they speak with an odd Portuguese drawl. At some stage during the production process however it seems they all forget what was asked of their tongues and slip back into American and/or Irish narrative which undermines the entire feeling of authenticity that this title is trying to create. Please also note that despite the marketing messages (including the primary poster itself) this is not a Liam Neeson picture. I would estimate he is on screen for a total of ten minutes and the film is mostly centred around Andrew Garfield's character. It is clear that Garfield sees this title at his 'Revenant moment' but he lacks the gravitas or screen presence of Di Caprio to push this title forward.
This film was clearly released at this time of year in a bid for recognition at the Oscars but I highly doubt it will come away with any awards. I really hope Scorsese enjoyed the process of making this title considering how long he has wanted to make this for; but the 'worthy cause' this title focuses on does not bode well for an engaging piece of entertainment.
In summary this is a film that is for the most part boring, at points extremely unpleasant and oddly comical. Steer clear of this one during Oscar season there will be plenty of other titles far more worthy of your time. An uncharacteristically uninspiring, self- indulgent piece of cinema from Scorsese. If you are a big fan of Hostel or the Saw franchise and enjoy watching torture this may well be the title for you but otherwise stay well clear.
see more here:
http://thereeltruth1.blogspot.co.uk/