Silence Review
written by Souranath Banerjee
A film apparently waiting to be made for the last two decades; is it really worth the wait?
My Ratings: 4/5
Finally Martin Scorsese unfolds his latest, his so called ‘passion project’, and his third religion-based movie after The Last 
Temptation of Christ in 1988 and Kundun in 1997. And it’s an absolute beauty!
‘I pray but I am lost. Am I just praying to silence?’
Adopted from Shûsaku Endô‘s novel by the same name, it’s a tale about two Jesuit missionaries Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garupe (Adam Driver) who travel all the way to Japan to confirm the fact that one of their mentors, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson) has publicly denounced God!
‘The moment you set foot in that country, you step into high danger.’
An eternal conflict about faith, religion and theology that seems to have no conclusive ending, or may be there is one?
The film manifests some top notch performances specially by Andrew Garfield who is undoubtedly the most promising young actor of recent times!
Adam Driver is also superb and Liam Neeson as the wise controversial Father excels without fail. Even the Japanese cast Yôsuke Kubozuka, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, Tadanobu Asano, Issei Ogata and Yoshi Oida – they all have made their presence felt in the film.
Rodrigo Prieto does wonders shooting the mysterious foggy outdoors of Japan, and three times Oscar winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker creates magic with the images!
And composer duo Kathryn Kluge and Kim Allen Kluge truly do justice to the score of Silence.
Surprisingly non-commercial, even a bit too arty and poetic contrary to Scorsese’s usual raw, gritty and direct approach but then again it’s a 2h 41min of absolute visual brilliance.
It so much reminds you of Akira Kurosawa‘s work, not only because of Japan being the backdrop but also for the overall treatment and space used throughout the film.
‘I worry, they value these poor signs of faith more than faith itself. But how can we deny them?’
The premiere of Silence was held at the Vatican; and for me it matches up to be one of the best films directed by Scorsese till date – ‘Sometimes silence is the deadliest sound.’
Poster courtesy: www.impawards.com.
The story of an ambitious young Johney Balraj (
First of all, the basic plot is very much 
The production designers 
An under-exploited