Silence is the new historical drama film from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The film tells the story of two Jesuit priests, played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, who face violence and persecution in seventeenth century Japan as they try to locate their mentor (Liam Neeson) and propagate catholicism. Scorsese’s last film was The Wolf of Wall Street, which was released in 2013. It is fair to say that this film could not be more different to that film.
Watching Silence on the big screen was an incredibly visceral experience. It is shot beautifully by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto; I love how he uses long takes that combine with amazing scenery to fully immerse you in this world. The plot outline that I used is very basic because the film is very plotty itself so I did not want to over explain. It often feels like a series of set pieces as these priests move throughout Japan on their search for their mentor Father Ferreira. The film is so brutal in its violence and torture scenes that it is at times very hard to watch, but it never felt gratuitous as you see it through the priests eyes, and they are the ones that convey the horrors of what it was like in this place at that time.
All three stars are an important part of the story, but this is definitely Andrew Garfield’s film. He is the character that you follow throughout the whole film and he gives a great performance, as his character goes through so much and is tested in so many different ways, and Garfield portrays this excellently. I do feel that the film was a bit too long and I thought at the end of certain scenes that they weren’t needed. I also thought that there could’ve been more explanation into something that happens to one of the characters which I won’t spoil, but one of the characters does disappear from the film very abruptly and it felt strange to me.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience of watching Silence in the cinema as it was brilliantly directed by Scorsese and is definitely a film you need to see on the big screen. It is an interesting story that will make you think a lot after you see it, I just felt that the running time was too long and certain characters weren’t developed enough.
RATING: 3.5/5
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