Silence Film Review
Silence is a 2016 film directed by Martin Scorsese and with a screenplay by Jay Cocks and Scorsese, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō. The film was released in the winter of 2016. It received critical acclaim, with the National Board of Review and American Film Institute it also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The film was not successful at the box office making just 22 million dollars against its 50 million dollar budget. It was well received by most critics and the general public though.
The film stars Andrew Garfield as Sebastião Rodrigues, Adam Driver as Francisco Garupe, Tadanobu Asano as the Interpreter, and Liam Neeson as Cristóvão Ferreira.
The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, it is set in Nagasaki, Japan, in the 17th century.
The film is well written and shot with great sound/music and has sets and locations in amazing places that really add to the atmosphere of the film. The acting in it by all was outstanding, even the secondary characters do a great job. It is a very moving and disturbing film. The film asks many very difficult and emotion questions about faith. When it comes to our suffering and the suffering of others. The film lets the characters tell their version of the story and makes you think about the choices they make, and you as the viewer are left to decide who is right and if their choices are right. The film is not for the squeamish and has many disturbing scenes in it, but it does give a good insight into the persecution of Christians in Japan.
I think the film is worth watching I do think that a knowledge of Japanese history, as well as the history of persecutions against the faith and a good understanding of faith, to which I mean a literal knowledge of theology, history, scripture and catechism learning, would really help to see all the messages in the film. I do not believe all the complexities were meant to be in the film, as I say the film was meant to be a challenging but accidentally became more than it was meant to be, though I could be mistaken. I think the film could cause confusion to some. I still am not sure what I really think about the film yet. But it is still worth watching.