Silence

     Silence is directed by Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) and stars Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Liam Neeson (Taken). It tells the story of two priests from Portugal who travel to Japan in order to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have denied the faith.

      Martin Scorsese is one of the most influential directors of all time with a wide range of films in nearly every category, from horror mysteries to crime dramas. And hearing that he was going to tackle the topic of religion instantly drew me in the moment I heard about it. And after seeing the recent performances of its leads, Silence became one of my most anticipated movies of last year.

      Silence is not necessarily an enjoyable watch. It asks a lot from us the viewer, from its nearly three hour run time to the moral dilemmas the protagonists face. Rather than give us an answer in black or white, it forces us to determine the shades of grey for ourselves, questioning the fateful decision that Garfield makes.

      Showcasing the persecution of Japanese Christians, the film hit me on an emotional level that I was not expecting going into it. Seeing what earlier believers suffered through and yet still held their core beliefs was a powerful example of faith in the direst of circumstances. And even in the silence, God is always working.

      I had very few flaws with the movie. The movie does run almost three hours, which the people I was with felt in a negative way, but I felt like the pacing was spot on and did not feel the need to check my watch even once. I noticed some technical details that were wrong, with some line dubbing off and sound effects that did not line up, which could be due to the fact that this movie was rushed into theaters.

      The performances by the three leads, along with the Japanese actors, were spot on. Whereas some of the main actors’ previous performances have relied on spectacle, they were far more subdued in these roles. The main antagonist, played by Issey Ogata, is chilling and menacing, and I would compare him to Christoph Waltz from Inglorious Basterds.

      I wish I had waited to make my top films of 2016 until after I had seen Silence, because it most definitely was one of the best movies of last year. Watching the movie I found very little wrong with it and was enthralled in the story all the way to the end.

When should you see it?
Opening Night