Silence

Rating: 5/10 (25 June 2017)

I saw a brief trailer and TV spots for this film, I knew it was something to do with religion, I assumed the title is something to do with a ritual or whatever,mike monks, but I was interested to see what it would have, directed by Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street). Basically set in the 17th century, in Portugal, two Portuguese Catholic Fathers, Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), ask permission from Father Alessandro Valignano (Ciarán Hinds) to travel to Japan. They are travelling to the village of Tomogi, Japan, after hearing rumours that their mentor, Father Cristovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson), has committed apostasy, abandoning his Catholic faith, they are investigating the truth and trying to locate him. Rodrigues and Garupe are guided by alcoholic fisherman Kichijiro (Yôsuke Kubozuka), who fled Japan to save himself, they arrive amidst the bloodshed of the anti-Christian purges, witnessing the unbearable burden of a different belief in a land founded on tradition. The two-man army follow the various traces of Ferreira's sightings, there is a point when Garupe leaves for Hirado Island, while Rodrigues goes to Gotō Island, the last place Ferreira lived, but it is destroyed, he is then betrayed by Kichijiro and captured by the Japanese Grand Inquisitor Inoue. Rodrigues is taken to Nagasaki, imprisoned with many Japanese converts, there he watches many horrific tortures performed on the Japanese Christians, including three men taken offshore, crucified, staying on the crosses until the sea water rises and drowns them. After some time, Garupe is also captured, Rodrigues is restrained by guards as he watches Garupe refuse to apostatise, he too is drowned trying to rescue the last of the three prisoners. Then Rodrigues is taken to meet an older Ferreira, who has become part of the community, he says he committed apostasy while being tortured, and after fifteen years he now believes Christianity is a lost cause in Japan, Rodrigues calls him a disgrace. Years later, Ferreira has died, Kichijiro asks Rodrigues to absolve him of his apostasy, but Rodrigues refuses, saying he is no longer a priest, Kichijiro is later caught for stealing, taken and never from again, many years later Rodrigues, still a prisoner, dies and is cremated. Also starring Shin'ya Tsukamoto as Mokichi and Tadanobu Asano as Interpreter. Garfield really is committed to his role, forced to choose between giving up his beliefs or facing prolonged torture and agonising death, Driver is fine in his time on screen, and Neeson as usual is fearless. I will admit I did not understand absolutely everything going on, there were occasional subtitles and many slow, long takes with little dialogue, and it is almost three hours long, but I understood the premise, with strong themes about not just religion, but passion of faith and the human condition, it does have some memorable stuff in it, so overall not a bad historical drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Worth watching!