SILENCE (2016) ***

Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver star as priests sent by Ciaran Hinds to find their mentor Liam Neeson, who apotheosized under torture in Japan and disappeared.  They can’t believe the man who taught them everything they know would turn his back on the church, so they go to Japan to investigate.  Knowing they will be captured, tortured, and killed if found out, they hook up with the Christian underground to find Neeson.  Along the way, they try to save Christians from rampant Japanese persecution.  

Director Martin Scorsese uses a lot of Akira Kurosawa influences throughout Silence.  From the fog shrouded mountains to the cramped huts to the torch-lit caves, the film oozes atmosphere.  You can almost feel dampness of the inhospitable landscape.    

Silence also gives Scorsese another chance to exorcise his heavy Catholicism themes of guilt, suffering, and redemption.  It’s also a little bit of a Men on a Mission movie as our heroes march into a foreign land to rescue a fallen comrade.  Once Garfield is captured, it kind of turns into a POW drama, complete with scenes of grueling torture, both mental and physical.  (It would also make a good double feature with Apocalypse Now as the mystery of Neeson’s disappearance is similar in some ways to Colonel Kurtz.)

Silence is engrossing and heartbreaking in the early going, but it sort of loses its way and gets draggy once Garfield is captured.  The focus on religious persecution and suffering means it’s not a lot of fun.  It’s a heavy movie; well shot, well-acted.  It’s just at 161 minutes, it plods in places.  Still, there’s no denying that a few scenes pack a real wallop.  

Despite a few quibbles, the central themes of the film keep you watching.  Garfield’s devotion to his faith leads to not only his suffering, but to the suffering of others.  In a battle of faith, how far would you go?  Would you renounce God to save yourself?  What about your friends?  Entire villages?    Where do you draw the line?  Garfield does a fine job in these heavy scenes, though I must admit the movie loses a lot of weird energy once Driver departs from the narrative.  

No matter how dark the film gets, there are rays of hope that shine through.  I’m speaking of the scenes where Garfield offers confession to the Japanese Christians, even if they can’t understand one another.  It’s a great way to show that religion crosses borders, races, and languages.