Silence

[zico]

8.5/10

Epic medieval drama by Scorsese set in Japan. 2 1/2 hours, not lots of spectacular action and car-chases or CGI, but compelling stuff and storylines to make you think. I was gripped, but imagine that people could be bored. Slow pace which ratcheted up the intensity, but never dull (at least in my opinion). Beautiful images and visual story-telling to complement the writing.

Story is about 2 Jesuit priests going off to Japan to seek out their former mentor-priest (Liam Neeson) and find out the truth of the rumours about what happened to him in Japan, in a time of violent repression by the Japanese against Christianity in Japan.

The film examines why people believe in religion(s), the lengths they'll go to to protect/support/propogate their beliefs, and whether or not it's a good and worthwhile thing for people to do with their lives - especially when their actions affect the lives of others.

All the characters are vividly drawn and you care and empathise with them. There's even a bit of humour around the Catholic idea of sinning, repenting and being forgiven, but mostly it's about pain and suffering caused by religion, and the abilities of individuals to stay true to what they think matters.
The film doesn't take sides or make it easy for you to decide the rights and wrongs of the actions of the central character, but keeps adding more information and context in a clever and sensible way.

It's generally very realistic, portraying the discomfort, dangers and horrors.
I found the very end to be a bit of a cop-out and slightly disappointing, but all the previous 2 1/2 hours were great.

[77ss]

Epic medieval drama by Scorsese set in Japan. 2 1/2 hours, not lots of spectacular action and car-chases or CGI, but compelling stuff and storylines to make you think. I was gripped, but imagine that people could be bored.

Dull stuff, I thought. I considered leaving on a number of occasions.

It's not as though I go for all action, but I found nothing of any great interest in this film, other than the background history which was new to me - a documentary would have been really interesting.

Perhaps its just me, but I found the incidental (deliberate?) irony of a Japanese organisation named The Inquisition burning Christians alive peculiar.