Review of Silence (2016) by Strikethree — 07 Nov 2017
I read the book on which this film is based (Endō Shūsako's "Silence") many years ago. I didn't like it, but I was interested to see how Martin Scorsese would deal with the story in a film.
In fact he stuck pretty closely to the book. So we have little narrative drive but more or less static scenes of torture, humiliation, torture, betrayal, torture again, etc. I found the book artificial and boring, and the film repulsive but most of all boring (and I'm interested in religion and in Japan).
The long-delayed appearance of the elusive Liam Neeson character had no narrative impact. His appearance contributed nothing to the film's development. Scorsese has never been noted for subtlety but his earlier films had terrific emotional drive.
This film, for all its gory action, just seems lifeless. It doesn't bear comparison with the terrific 2010 French film on a similar theme (persecution of Christians in a non-Christian country), Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men".
This review of Silence (2016) was written by Strikethree on 07 Nov 2017.
Silence has generally received positive reviews.
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