Review of Silence (2017) by Kapten V — 21 Mar 2017

Once upon a time in the 17th century. Catholic missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) face their ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor (Liam Neeson) - at a time when Catholicism is strictly outlawed and their presence forbidden.

Of all the recent critically praised movies I've watched, "Silence" is the one I don't get.

I mean, I understand what's happening on screen, and I like the fact that Scorsese realized his long-planned non-mainstream spiritual project... But I find it boring. The first hour or so especially.

Also, I was not much impressed by the spiritual side of the story. For starters, there's nearly not enough deep conversations and thoughts for this 161 minute movie. Often it feels that the story is really not going anywhere and the main attraction is Garfield's character having glorious mane of hair and making sad faces.

The result would mean probably more for Christians but for others, the far and few meditations on God, faith and human nature offered here may wear thin soon. Or maybe I read too much spiritual literature to be carried away by couple of deep lines thrown to us here and there.

The Japanese side of the conflict is actually better fleshed out and more interesting than missionaries'. If it was the intention all along, why is the main emphasis on the latter?

After watching Hacksaw Ridge", I quite like Garfield but his character is one-note and doesn't offer many opportunities to flex that acting muscle. There's a limit to how long I can be interested in watching him look sullen and pout around.

Driver's character has even less screen time and ends up unused and bland. Neeson is solid as usual but his role is also quite small.

Silence" felt like a Terence Malick movie, with less beautiful sights and more monotone story.

I should try to rewatch in the future. Maybe I will understand then why it's so highly acclaimed. If the name Scorsese wasn't attached to it, would the movie lovers still love it so dearly?

I watched the trailer before the movie itself and it felt quite generic, just flashes of action and epic moments searching for a proper common ground. Having seen the movie, I gotta say this approach makes a lot of sense. If one wants to promote "Silence", one has to make it look livelier than it really is, outside or in.