Scorsese’s religious ‘Silence’ is golden
Tale of Jesuit priests in Japan is an epic exploration of faith
With the religious historical drama Silence, Martin Scorsese proves he’s as masterful a filmmaker with men of God as he is with gangsters.
As surprising as a movie about Christian priests in 17th-century Japan is from the Oscar-winning director of The Departed and Goodfellas, Silence ( eeeg out of four; rated R; in theaters Friday in New York and Los Angeles, expands nationally through mid-January) also marks one of the deeper and most thoughtful projects in Scorsese’s career. It feels as though his entire Hollywood career has culminated in this grand quest, which, while excessively long, effectively explores the brutal costs of unbending faith.
The opening scene’s disembodied heads foreshadow the horror that faces the movie’s main holy men: Father Cristovão Ferreira (Liam Neeson) is on a Jesuit missionary mission in Japan (at a time when Catholic teaching is illegal), where he sees what happens to those who convert from Buddhism. Back in Portugal, Fathers Sebastian Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) are told their mentor has turned his back on God and is living as an apostatized priest, and the pair decide to travel to the Far East to save Ferreira.
It’s not an easy trip, and on their search, Rodrigues and Garupe preach the gospel to villagers who keep their religion hidden because they have no other choice. Rodrigues splits from his partner and undergoes tests of his beliefs in a country where he’s tantamount to an outlaw.
Based on Shusaku Endo’s 1966 novel of historical fiction, Silence marks Garfield’s second role as a devoted Christian this awards season — he’s also great in the war film Hacksaw Ridge, yet the actor generates genuine emotion as a guy who’s fighting not just for his life but also his spiritual well-being. Although Neeson’s character is off screen for much of the story, he also gets to dig into the fine line between faith and survival.
The cast that makes the movie, though, are the Japanese actors who will be fresh faces to American eyes. Shinya Tsukamoto gives a heartbreaking performance as an unwavering Christian convert, Yosuke Kubozuka co-stars as a man whose loyalties are constantly shifting, Tadanobu Asano is coolly menacing as Rodrigues’ interpreter once he’s captured, and Issey Ogata, a comedian in his home country, plays a powerful inquisitor who’s charmingly eccentric though viciously punishing.
Scorsese, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jay Cocks, maintains the Jesuit point of view through Rodrigues’ struggles, but there are no real protagonists or antagonists in this tale, which does drag over nearly three hours. Although ferocious in their handling of outsiders (from scalding hot-water torture to upsidedown hangings), the priests’ Japanese foes simply take action they deem appropriate against those whom they see as invading their country.
It’s the converted people, those wanting to pray to God instead of Buddha and caught between these opposing forces, whose plights are the most arduous: At what point and after how much pain would you denounce your core belief system? In their religious passion, Scorsese makes his point in a most powerful fashion.