Review of Silence (2017) by Quinten P — 26 Jan 2017

Silence is the only thing the theater left with after what is without a doubt the worst work of cinema ever created by the great Martin Scorsese. This is not to say that the camera work is not stunning, nor the scenery gorgeous or the acting often admirably attempted, because they all are as one should expect from Scorsese. This is simply a night unbearable watch because the short synopsis should be "A duo of dimwits wander into a hostile nation without learning barely any of the language to preach to many people who don't speak theirs while letting good people die for their hubris and attempting to make it seem as if they are the ones who are truly suffering because, look, they gave Spider-Man a Jesus beard." This is with no malcontent or disrespect to the commendable performances of the main actors, or especially the slightly superior ones of the supporting characters, but the two apparent protagonists of this film are a pair of the most mind-numbingly self-righteous simpletons I have ever seen put to screen.

Perhaps it is meant to be this way because the points of their antagonists are often much better than their own in my opinion, aside from their clearly evil acts, their logic seems far more understandable as to why they are reacting to an invading ideology being forced onto their nation in an attempt to assimilate them. There have been several better films of the same sort of story almost all of which were far better handled, less heavy-handed stories with more manageable lengths, as you might feel that you've been on an exhaustive journey of your own after trying to sit through entirety of this thing. Anything from Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge late last year, also starring Spider-Jesus, to Angelina Jolie's Unbroken, with a similar, more compelling story and more likable lead would be better options. With all of the definitely due respect to cinematic master Scorsese, I sincerely hope this sort of self-important subject matter is not all that you shove out for the rest of your directorial career, there have got to be better tales to tell.