#5. Silence
Blame it on the lack of a strong promotional campaign and a last-quarter release date that seemed to come and go quietly, but we have not talked about Martin Scorsese’s Silence nearly enough. Based on Shûsaku Endô’s classic novel of the same name, the film follows two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, both remarkable) who travel to 17th century Japan in search of a mentor (Liam Neeson) who has gone missing. Has he apostatized? Married a Buddhist? Been murdered by the oppressive, anti-Christian government? Usually, films that hew this close to the source material are choked by it. What makes Silence work so well is that it the novel’s exploration of Christian devotion and doubt are mined from the same source Scorsese has been returning to his whole career. There is virtually no score, nor is there virtuoso camerawork. Firework monologues are similarly absent. All of Scorsese’s hallmarks are missing; this is a legendary director stripped of all frilly artifice. What the viewer is left with is the raw nerve so many Christians seem fit to ignore as a part of their faith: doubt, the brief moment after a prayer when you’re met with silence.
Blame it on the lack of a strong promotional campaign and a last-quarter release date that seemed to come and go quietly, but we have not talked about Martin Scorsese’s Silence nearly enough. Based on Shûsaku Endô’s classic novel of the same name, the film follows two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, both remarkable) who travel to 17th century Japan in search of a mentor (Liam Neeson) who has gone missing. Has he apostatized? Married a Buddhist? Been murdered by the oppressive, anti-Christian government? Usually, films that hew this close to the source material are choked by it. What makes Silence work so well is that it the novel’s exploration of Christian devotion and doubt are mined from the same source Scorsese has been returning to his whole career. There is virtually no score, nor is there virtuoso camerawork. Firework monologues are similarly absent. All of Scorsese’s hallmarks are missing; this is a legendary director stripped of all frilly artifice. What the viewer is left with is the raw nerve so many Christians seem fit to ignore as a part of their faith: doubt, the brief moment after a prayer when you’re met with silence.