Silence

           

Martin Scorsese's Silence left me, as ever, respectful for his skills as a craftsman, but, as with his previous spiritual films, somewhat emotionally unsatisfied by the effort. Silence tells the story of Christian missionaries in 17th century Japan with reverence and taste, but a lack of dynamism is fatal to the film's flow. Part of the problem I had was that I could not get into the two main characters played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver. They have been sent to Japan to spread the Word and check up on Liam Neeson's possibly lapsed priest. Driver is quite good, but Garfield is merely OK; struggling with an on again, off again Portuguese accent. They arrive in Japan, where Christianity is outlawed, make contact with local Christians and preach covertly to their flock.

This section is told well enough, but it is always hard to visually express the interior spiritual yearnings of characters. Even Bergman struggled with it and that was, largely, his schtick. Things perk up a bit, as they did in The Last Temptation of Christ, whenever this film's Judas figure appears. Still, the main problem with the first part of the film is that the two missionaries are not as compelling figures as, say, Travis Bickle and Johnny Boy. 

Scorsese sometimes seems to need Dostoyevskian discord for his films to fly and Silence gets that when Garfield's priest is apprehended and confronted by the film's grand inquisitor. Issey Ogata, in the role, is wonderful and provides the film some juice as he tests Garfield's faith. Liam Neeson is a sturdy presence as the apostate missionary who teaches Garfield that the sacrifice of innocents may not be the best way to serve a savior who died for our sins. Silence is a worthy film that makes up for its longueurs by its commitment and craftmanship. (4/19/17)