Review – Silence

2016’s biggest mystery has finally been revealed.  Throughout the year, it was uncertain when, or if, Martin Scorsese’s religious epic, Silence, was every going to hit theaters.  With no trailer or any buzz, it was looking like it was going to be one of my most anticipated titles of 2017.  Then, in November, we finally got a trailer and now, the final product, and I have to say, it was well worth the wait.

Silence is true cinematic brilliance.  It is a profound, challenging, breathtaking epic that will leave you speechless.

Silence follows two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) as they travel to Japan in search of their mentor (Liam Neeson).  While there, they face violence and persecution as they try to spread the word of Catholicism in a non-Catholic country.

Andrew Garfield, who has already given one of the best performances of 2016 in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, is sensational once again.  Scorsese is infamous for portraying fascinating yet flawed men, like Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980), Henry Hill in Goodfellas (1990), and Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Garfield’s Rodrigues is yet another fascinating, flawed character.  Rodrigues’s decision making while in Japan is highly questionable at times.  He becomes obsessed with finding his mentor, and does what he feels is necessary to get there, whether that forces his followers to desecrate the cross and blaspheme Catholicism.  He then begins to question his own beliefs after being kidnapped by an old Samurai (a chilling Issei Ogata) who’s gang murders Catholic followers.  There is a great amount of depth to Rodrigues and Garfield portrays this tortured, haunted soul with gravitas and commitment that carries the movie.  This is an awards-worthy performance and the most complex of Garfield’s career.

Silence was a passion project for Scorsese, having been trying to get the film made for over twenty years.  Scorsese’s last passion project was 2002’s Gangs of New York, which is a film that shaped and influenced me in so many ways, it is ultimately the reason why I love movies the way that I do today.  With Scorsese passion projects, you can see he is one hundred percent in control and makes the movie he wants to make.  Silence is a testament to Scorsese as a director.  He takes everything he knows as a director, all of his knowledge of film history, genre, and his own personal experiences within the Catholic community and creates a slow burning, stunning experience.  The cinematography is gorgeous and some of the best of 2016, the score, though limited, is spellbinding, the editing my Thelma Schoomaker is top notch, and the messages of this movie about religion, obsession, propaganda, and morality give the film a number of layers that require dissection and multiple viewings.  This is a movie that stays with you for days after you watch it, and only gets better the more you think about it.

I watched Silence roughly a week ago, and the more I think about it, the higher it moves up on my Best of 2016 list.  Scorsese has once again proven why he is one of the greats, if not the greatest, to ever get behind the camera.  This isn’t his most accessible movie, but it is one that demands multiple viewings and immense discussion afterward.  I was captivated throughout Silence‘s 160 minute runtime and think it is a Scorsese film, like Raging Bull, The King of Comedy (1984), and Goodfellas, that will stand the test of time and be looked at as one of the director’s finest achievements.

MY RATING – 4/4

Did you see Silence?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook and YouTube by searching Kevflix.