Review of Silence (2017) by Riya A — 20 Feb 2017

This is possibly the best example of a film that the director has made purely for himself, for his own emotional journey. Don't watch it if you're expecting a classic Scorsese because this is not it.

Instead, it's a 3-hour long impassioned and resonating look at what it means to have faith, the meaning of religion, the meaning of death and whether there is any point to it, and if there are many gods or just one - culminating into a single word - Silence.

Performances were outstanding. Took me a little while to get into Andrew Garfield's character and his accent, possibly because I'm not used to seeing him as anything more than a pretty boy, but he pulled it off.

The cinematography was great as well. Scorsese's a genius with how he used the mist and landscapes to set the mood. That being said, I did not like the editing. It was oddly jarring and some of the cuts felt like they were trying to hide something.

Perhaps the takes didn't run long enough or the performances slightly faltered. Either way, I hope there had been longer takes and more seamless editing. But it's easy to look past it and what you're left with is a cinematic experience that makes you question the comprehension of faith and whether we must have it at all.

Powerful. Watch it, but be prepared for a long journey with the director. Remember he's been making this film for 26 years. And this might just be one of those films that won't be appreciated at its time but after a while it'll be a called a masterpiece.