a SILENCE musing

Scorsese's newest film tackles faith and Christian morality (again) through a Jesuit missionary traveling to Japan to find another missionary during the Christian persecution in 17th century Japan. Scorsese does his usual dependable work, and I really loved how the film asks huge questions on how you as a viewer sees faith, brings up points and counterpoints, and relishes symbolism. There is a lot of gruesome suffering portrayed here, but unlike a movie like UNBROKEN, there is purpose behind it and serves the arc of the main character. Andrew Garfield is so damn good in his role, with his undeniable faith thrusting him forward and each second of doubt showing on his face. One thing that bugged me was the sound, as it seemed like it was not mixed completely, with some scenes' dialogue blaring or airy; it was not as refined as it could have been. Now that I'm thinking about it, was this done on purpose? The use of silence itself in the movie is used expertly, and it could be that the mixture of well-blended sound in dialogue could represent the voice of God or otherwise, but maybe it'd take a second viewing to pay closer attention to.

I doubt it'd be anytime soon for a second viewing, since I really felt the length of this movie. SILENCE clocks in at 2 hours and 41 minutes and is so dark and unrelenting, but at the same time, there's so much to unpack thematically and can be so rewarding in its value to bring up discussion of faith and morality. 7/10.