View Poll Results: Silence

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Thread: Silence (Martin Scorsese)

  1. #1

  2. #2
    I really wish I liked this more. It's such a solemn, challenging, complex film. It deals with legitimately frightening actions and themes without batting an eye. It's a passion project from one of the all-time greats. It's the type of movie I want to champion--the type I want to see more of. But it's miscast. Garfield is just not ready for a role like this, and it really hurts what could otherwise be a great film.

  3. #3
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    I actually thought Garfield was pretty great here. I wasn't entirely sure of him early on, but by the end, he really impressed the hell out of me. I, too, however, found myself wishing I liked it more all the same. Really, I kinda felt that the 3 hour runtime was unnecessary, and that the point could've been driven home just as well in somewhere between 2 to 2 1/2 hours. It was pretty damn gripping throughout, and likewise, I loved how far they pushed things, and all of the complexities throughout as his faith was constantly challenged. I'm just not sure that it's something I can really see myself revisiting, however, 'cause damn is this a long sit that really feels it. Just don't have the time for these sorta epicly lengthed slow burn movies anymore I guess.

  4. #4
    Not a praying man Melville's Avatar
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    The length didn't bother me, but it felt a lot like two separate movies, and I liked the first one a lot more than the second. The first half is an intensely powerful depiction of faith. The second half is a lot less intense, less cohesive (if more nuanced) depiction of faith in the face of compromise. The hammy performance of the inquisitor really sank the second half for me.
    I am impatient of all misery in others that is not mad. Thou should'st go mad, blacksmith; say, why dost thou not go mad? How can'st thou endure without being mad? Do the heavens yet hate thee, that thou can'st not go mad?

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  5. #5
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
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    Garfield is miscast but he's not entirely terrible. The film, for me, is absolutely breathtaking - and the entire Japanese cast (especially Issei Ogata) is fantastic. I highly recommend it, despite my atheist self not connecting with the material as much as I would have liked to.

  6. #6
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Yeah, forgot to mention this before, but just wanted to add that I thought the film was gorgeously shot. Up there among the best cinematography of the year for sure.

  7. #7
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)
    Yeah, forgot to mention this before, but just wanted to add that I thought the film was gorgeously shot. Up there among the best cinematography of the year for sure.
    Yes, it's the best looking 2016 film I've seen so far, but I do agree that half an hour could have been shaved from the narrative w/o losing too much (and maybe gaining some focus...I dozed off for 10 or 15 minutes in the middle and I don't think I'm the only one...still really liked the film overall).
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  8. #8
    This movie reminded me of Ingmar Bergman, whose characters were often tormented by the silence of God, but I don't think there was ever moment in a Bergman film in which God broke his silence. God does break his silence in this movie. It could have been Rodrigues' imagination, but even so it seemed to betray the theme of the movie.

  9. #9
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Isaac (view post)
    This movie reminded me of Ingmar Bergman, whose characters were often tormented by the silence of God, but I don't think there was ever moment in a Bergman film in which God broke his silence. God does break his silence in this movie. It could have been Rodrigues' imagination, but even so it seemed to betray the theme of the movie.
    That was definitely a strange choice. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'm sure Scorsese has a long winded 30 minute explanation about why the audience has to hear God (or specifically Jesus, who is in the same trinity in Christianity) speak to Rodrigues. Then again, Scorsese has made a career out of subjective filmmaking, so it's not completely out of line in his long oeuvre. It reminded me a bit of the vision of Jesus in the original Bad Lieutenant, but I believe in that, Jesus doesn't speak (I could be wrong, its been awhile). Incidentally, someone started giggling during that part in my theater, and someone else told him to "shut the fuck up." I thought a theological fist fight was going to break out in the aisles.
    Last edited by Pop Trash; 01-22-2017 at 08:07 PM.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  10. #10
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Saw this yesterday and was fascinated by it. It doesn't feel like a Scorsese movie at all as far as his directorial trademarks go. There's one shot that stood out as "Scorsese" and I don't even recall if there's any of his rapid editing. Of course, the sound and cinematography are absolutely on point, as necessary here.

    As mentioned before, this has the inner conflict of Bergman mixed with objective conflict of the Inquisitors. There hasn't been something complex like this in quite some time, especially when you bring in the repeating denouncer that continues to beg for forgiveness.

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  11. #11
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    Quote Quoting Isaac (view post)
    This movie reminded me of Ingmar Bergman, whose characters were often tormented by the silence of God, but I don't think there was ever moment in a Bergman film in which God broke his silence. God does break his silence in this movie. It could have been Rodrigues' imagination, but even so it seemed to betray the theme of the movie.
    It is CiarĂ¡n Hinds's voice, who is Father Alessandro Valignano at the beginning, so I think Scorsese still keeps it within "Rodrigues' imagination" interpretation.
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  12. #12
    Not for me. I simply cannot connect with the themes and conflict driving what little plot there is (beyond accepting, yes, persecution is terrible and wrong) because I think the whole idea of not receiving an answer from God and how this affects religious faith has been done to death. Whether the priest renounced his faith or not meant absolutely nothing to me in the end. That being said, I think the last 20 minutes is the strongest because I appreciated the subtle look at how we can learn to keep our own beliefs/personality/ideals whatever alive in the face of overwhelming opposition (which, yes, is explicit in the rest of the film as well but the ending has much, much, much less of a totally miscast Garfield moaning and complaining to God, which goes on far too long past the point where, you know, alright, we get it.)
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  13. #13
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    This movie has sat incredibly well with me. It's become one of my favorites of the year, I think.

  14. #14
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    Personally, Martin Scorsese is the closest thing to a God I know off. He's a filmmaker over 70 years old and his last two films have been Wolf of Wall Street and this. Who else, at that age, could deliver such dramatically different films, and yet both so provocative and noncomformist?

    In contrast to Wolf which is addictive (can't count how many times I watch it in YouTube clips) I didn't exactly have a great time watching Silence, but I don't think I was supposed to. It's a slow-building morose work that obsessively depicts suffering and torture. It's a pretty long film and I feel like this adds to the sentiment of exhaustion on the protagonist. It does a couple of very cool things with sound design (Silence is the name of the film after all) and features practically no music but for a few diegetic short scenes.

    But on retrospect, the film wouldn't leave my head. It's clearly one of the best of the year. I kept thinking about the dialogue. The scene where we're introduced to Father Ferreira is a wonderful piece of acting. Neeson is a broken man in the scene and yet his speech makes sense to modern viewers. Why the fuck would anyone but a fanatic think cultural colonization of Japan is an idea worth pursuing for decades? Like most of you here I also found the scenes that depict a direct intervention of God a strange narrative choice given the theme of the film. But given Scorsese's history of POV films with scenes that might just take place inside the protagonist's head (Taxi Driver, more obviously Shutter Island) it becomes something interesting to discuss instead of a pair of heavy-handed scenes that confirm God exists.

    I also don't feel Andrew Garfield was miscast in any way. He holds his own against more experienced actors. He was also very good in Hacksaw Ridge, but that movie was simply a piece of shit.

  15. #15
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    I definitely need to watch again to see how a second viewing holds.

    Garfield's conversations with God don't occur until after he's caught, correct? At this point, he's almost a broken man. I almost felt like it was him just picturing how he thinks God would reply to him more than anything.

    I still think the best thing about the movie is the man that consistently goes to him for forgiveness, only to deceive him almost immediately afterwards. It's both very funny, but tearfully tragic at the same time.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
    Tar - **


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  16. #16

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