Review of Silence (2017) by Anthony B — 03 Dec 2017

I never thought I'd be writing a negative review for a Martin Scorsese film but here we are. Silence is clearly a passion project for Marty and this is evident because it is a frustrating, challenging, emotionally draining cinematic experience at its core, that said, it is not what I would call a good movie.

It is underwhelming from a technical, acting, and storytelling standpoint, uneven in focus, and surprisingly insignificant given the important subject matter. My main issue with the film is the same issue I had with latest adaption of Murder on the Orient Express, it lacks a cinematic quality.

It's just a whole lot of talk as oppose to physical action. Yes, there are several shocking depictions of torture throughout the film but for whatever reason they do not possess that impactful quality apparent in all of Scorsese's other works.

Film is about visual storytelling and Silence is too inverted and reserved to allow its audience to see too much on screen or experience very much in general. To be fair, after hearing the synopsis, I was excitedly hoping for more of an Apocalypse Now with a religious twist rather than the deliberately paced spiritual drama Silence intended to be.

I'm sure Scorsese achieved what he set out to achieve here but it is too void of urgency for me to recommend. Everyone involved did an adequate job I guess but for the first time in my life I was left unimpressed by a Martin Scorsese film and that is even more depressing that Silence, which is saying a lot.