Silence: A Scorsese Masterpiece

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Tadanobu Asano, Ciarán Hinds, Liam Neeson

Rated: 6/10

It’s a masterpiece on religion. It is a thinking movie and yet a commercial one. It is maestro Martin Scorsese’s 15-year-old dream that has been framed with finesse.

Revolving around the tale of two missionaries in Japan and the choices they need to make in an era when Christianity was banned, Silence is titled — and entitled — to raise deafening issues around religion. There is a lot of gore, stark gore like blood-splashing beheading etc and Scorsese’s dogged ‘I will not let up come what may’ keeps you constantly on edge.

And while you are on edge with what meets the eye, he also secretly and copiously works at jogging your mind, thinking about the fallout of faith, talking less and showing you more about the violent instincts that often need a prayer to save you from the very faith you are propelling.

Scorsese is radical about religion this time but perhaps because this film was his longest lingering dream it takes too much care in putting out every frame and encasing every emotion, thereby resulting in being often long-drawn and tedious.

But it’s a Scorsese that you must experience, whether you agree or disagree with what he has to say, is another matter altogether.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 19 February, 2017