Silence

Silence (2016) is Martin Scorsese's passion project that he has been trying to get made for 30 years. It is an unlikely sell, it is based on the 1966 novel of the same by Shusaku Endo about two Jesuit priests who go to Japan looking for their mentor during the active ban of Christianity in Japan. The two young priests are played by rising stars Andrew Garfield (Father Rodrigues) and Adam Driver (Father Garrpe), and their mentor, Father Ferrier, is played by Liam Neeson. The principal Japanese roles include Issey Ogawa as the Inquisitor, indie film star Tadanobu Asano as the Interpreter, director Shinya Tsukumoto as Mokichi, and Yusuke Nobuzuka as the traitorous Kichijiro. There was already a well-made Japanese film made by Masahiro Shinoda in 1971, so I'm not sure why Scorsese thought it should be re-made-I suppose he was moved by the story. I suppose it should come as no surprise since he has made two other films about religion faith in The Last Temptation of Christ and Kudan. I found the book as slow going as the films. That being said, the film looks great thanks to the sets designs, locations and cinematography of Rodrigo Prieto. I also like the fact that he essentially eschews from the traditional soundtrack instead using ambient sounds such as the cries of cicadas as the back ground score.