Review of Silence (2017) by Peter F — 29 Dec 2016
It hasn't been uncommon to hear cries of Martin Scorsese becoming a "sell-out" or "studio lapdog" since Gangs of New York, but his latest film is a muted historical drama that took him decades to get off the ground, and its his least accessible work to date.
Similar to another passion project of the director's, The Last Temptation of Christ, Silence is based off of an overtly religious novel, which Scorsese uses to touch on themes regarding faith and spirituality, and it makes memorable use of a fairly minimalist aesthetic.
Shot in a grainy and foreboding texture, Silence is perpetually a bleak film, but a meditative one too that actually shows shades of Andrei Tarkovsky. It can be a tiring experience giving it's lengthy running-time and deliberate pace, but patient viewers will reap great rewards from the understated pay-off in the final act.
After The Wolf of Wall Street (likely Scorsese's most commercial film, and easily his most gratuitous) it's commendable that he finally was able to see this dream project of his come to fruition, and its a bright spot in his latter day filmography that's somewhat uncharacteristic for him, yet also a work that very much encompasses his ethos.
This review of Silence (2017) was written by Peter F on 29 Dec 2016.
Silence has generally received positive reviews.
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