Martin Scorsese took a 180 degree turn from his regular gangster and city-life themed films to direct this quiet epic set in seventeenth century Japan. He derived from the norm before with the family film, “Hugo” (2011) that was a great insight to what he can accomplish. “Silence” only adds to Scorsese’s library of wonderfully crafted movie making. It’s a simple movie with no epic battles or awe-inspiring scenes, but it’s beautiful. The cast is stupendous with all of them giving convincing perfomances. Even the minor roles filled by Ciaran Hinds, Tadanobu Asano, and Issei Ogata were all compelling and tremendous.
Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play two Catholic Jesuit priests who travel to Japan to find their mentor played by Liam Neeson when Christainity had been outlawed. The film follows these three characters, but the lead role falls on Garfield as Father Rodrigues who is tested to the limits of insanity for his religion. He lost 40 pounds for this film, studied with the Jesuits, and portrayed a man who practically lost everything and shows his reactions and deepest thoughts immensely. I am a religious man who keeps the commandments as best as I can, read the scriptures, pray, and attend church every Sunday, but I have no idea how I would handle what Rodrigues went through. I don’t know what I would do.
Film-making is an art form, and the craftsmen behind this film definitely show it with what comes on-screen. The art direction (I still call it that after the name changed to production design at the Academy Awards) is very detailed and plays well with the actors on set. I really thought I was watching a screenshot of the past, 400 years ago. The costumes were very well detailed and worn precisely how the shogunate Japanese wore them. And the makeup was finely applied so I couldn’t tell what was real and what was a prosthetic. All of this makes for good illusion. I got fooled by what they did in this movie.
I was a little surprised that Howard Shore didn’t write the score for this film. Others he’d composed for Scorsese had been “The Departed” (2006) and “Hugo” (2011). They were very good and effective scores ,and I believe this was a missed opportunity to create a beautiful and memorable score for a Japanese epic. I’m sure Shore was busy or he would’ve done it. The score was solemn and very forgettable.
This is the second film released this year connecting Garfield to religious conviction. His first one was “Hacksaw Ridge” (2016) about a Seventh-Day Adventist who enlists in the Army and refuses to fire a weapon (You can find the review below). These two performances of Garfield’s are very similar about a young Christian man having his faith tested at the hands of the Japanese. Two separate instances that took place centuries apart. They both serve as a basis of faith. I know a lot of people who think Hollywood doesn’t make movies about religion anymore, but these two films very well make religion a forefront for the audience to take in. Mel Gibson and Scorsese both do this very well. “Silence” has a place in today’s cinema. It’s for the secular and the faithful.
Andrew Garfield (L) and Shin’ya Tsukamoto (R) in “Silence”
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