Silence

Silence; historical drama, USA, 2016; D: Martin Scorsese, S: Andrew Gafield, Adam Driver, Tadanobu Asano, Yosuke Kubozuka, Shinya Tsukamoto, Liam Neeson, Issey Ogata

In 1639, using a Japanese local Kichijiro, Portuguese Jesuit priests Sebastiao and Francisco travel from Macau to Tomogi, Japan, to find out what happened to priest Ferreira who went there to convert Japanese to Christianity. Sebastiao and Francisco find a group of Japanese Christians hiding from the authorities, who are killing Christians. Eventually, they are discovered and arrested. Francisco tries to save four people tied up and thrown into the ocean from the boat by the authorities, but drowns himself. A government Inquisitor Inoue tries to persuade Sebastiao to renounce his religion to save other captives from death. When Ferreira shows up and reveals he renounced Christianity and blended in with the Japanese, to save locals from the death penalty, Sebastiao does the same. Inoue sends him to live with a widow whose husband died. 

In one of his weakest films, Martin Scorsese practically made a pamphlet for Christianity. Based on the novel "Silence" by Shusaku Endo, the film's historical setting of two Portuguese priests trying to keep up a Christian stronghold in Japan in the 17th century is interesting, but its story is simply too boring and too long at an overlong running time of 160 minutes, with monotone, ordinary dialogue that have no inspiration. The whole film is too thin, without much to connect to movie goers, except as an ode to persecution of Christians. Scorsese uses a wonderful, gorgeous cinematography (a bird's-eye view of a ship sailing on the ocean; the camera spinning around priest Ferreira who is turned upside down by the authorities for preaching Christianity; an occasional contrast between huge close-ups of someone's head and the panorama in the background...), but it is all technicalities, and no substance or essence. One of the rare examples of some awe is the disturbing sequence of Japanese Christian Mokichi who is tied up to a cross near the shore with two others, and as the ocean levels rise in the evening, the waves are splashing them well over their heads, as priest Sebastiao observes from the hill, and narrates how "it took Mokichi four days to die". However, except for their struggle, and Sebastiao's wondering about God's silence, not much is here to deserve to invest the viewers' time to watch these events. The Portuguese tried to assimilate a Japanese area through their religion, but failed. That is the core theme that is avoided in the story. Another is the appeal for freedom of religion. However, for such a topic, the story and execution warranted a richer inspiration.

Grade:+