Certain films can oftentimes have hidden layers of meaning to them. Fight Club, for all its machismo stuff and “fighty-fighty” is really a story about a man grappling with his own sexuality. Inception can be looked at as a massive allegory for the filmmaking process, as can something as comically out of left field as Inglourious Basterds. There are other films, however, that wear their metaphorical heart on their sleeve, not only partaking in a comparison to their lofty ideals but forcing the audience into areas of discomfort to make their point all the more strong. Silence is a film of the latter ilk, taking cues from Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light and even some shades of Cavalry from a few years back. What you get from the film is ultimately for you to decide, but for myself I simply cannot shake the feeling of this movie from my mind.
Silence is the story of two Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garrupe (Adam Driver), whom receive word while living in Macau that their mentor and leader of the last Jesuit mission into Japan, Father Ferreira, has renounced his faith and is lost to the cause. This prompts action from the young priests to enter the hostile country and find out what happened to the man. If this sounds familiar, that’s because on the surface it is. This is the exact setup of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and the subsequent film adaptation Apocalypse Now. It is the journey into darkness to find truth. What that truth is remains a mystery for almost ninety percent of the runtime of the film, examining the trials and tribulations of Rodrigues and Garrupe as they attempt to sneak through Japanese villages and renew the faith their predecessors worked so hard to impart on the Japanese people.
Silence is the type of film that you have to be prepared to reckon with. There is no easy entertainment here. There is no real recourse from the brutal and stark reality of the situation. The odds of the situation going well are low from the outset, which is painfully obvious as an audience member. However, this is a film about faith, whether that faith be true or blind. To be honest the questions that arise in this film are so diverse and thought provoking that even while writing this I have trouble deciding where I stand. Good and bad are relative terms here. Yes, the Japanese seem to have a brutal side to their way of life, but maybe the Jesuits should not have been imposing their culture on the Japanese in the first place.
Scorsese has touched upon these ideas several times throughout his career, even baking some religious subtext into the less obvious ones like Raging Bull and Casino. Silence is Scorsese’s attempt at understanding what this all means. A friend of mine, in a review for A Serious Man, referenced that film as the Coens’ attempt at doing the same. Filmmakers, I think, largely come to the same conclusion that whether or not God exists, or is even listening, is sort of irrelevant to the fact that what truly matters is how we treat one another. This idea is central to the film and something that has no easy resolution.
If this review sounds meandering, that’s because it is, just like this movie. The plot meanders down a road with a conclusion you can likely see coming miles away, yet the implications of what occurs are what really get my mind racing. Is faith something that can be held onto without showing it outwardly, or is it something that must be publicly asserted in order to be valid in God’s eyes? What is the point in peoples’ suffering if ultimately it leads to no logical resolution? Is there God, or is God the illusion of morality deep inside one’s own mind? All of these concepts are explored, and all of them challenge you as an audience member to determine their ultimate meaning.
I did not like Silence, I was captivated by it. The film did not let me love it, it forced me to confront it. Scorsese has made a film about faith for anyone who has ever questioned theirs, but it also welcomes those who are likely affirming their own faith to observe and consider their position. In contrast to pandering and useless films like God’s Not Dead that try to rally the Bible-Belt into a message of Scripture-toting bullshit, Silence never attempts to tell the audience what is right, what is wrong or how faith should correctly be observed. Scorsese is confronting mortality and trying to parse out what faith is, and ultimately why it is, but he leaves the answers up to the audience.
So the big question: do I recommend the film? Again, like the film, not an easy answer. If you are prepared for a film that skirts just beneath the surface of three hours about Jesuit priests grappling with the meaning faith in a hostile land, then get ready to see something special. If none of that interests you, stay away. This film is not a crowd pleaser and ultimately was not made to be one. It may feature some of the biggest stars in the game with Neeson, Driver and Garfield but it is by no means meant for the masses. Personally, I was engaged by the film and am still considering it as I finish writing this review. If a film can get this kind of reaction out of someone as critical of religion as myself then Scorsese must have done something right.
