Our mission is not complete.
In the late 1500's Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson) is no longer sending updates from Japan, where he was trying to spread Christianity. Fathers Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garupe (Adam Driver) travel from Portugal to Japan in secret to find out what happened to him after hearing what they think is slander. Christianity is outlawed in Japan, and while there's was a few believers who shelter Rodrigues and Garupe, there was even more trials for them.
At this point, we all know this was a passion project 20+ years in the making for director Martin Scorcese. Having loved all of his films, I can say this one wasn't for me. Don't get me wrong, Silence is not a bad film but for me it was a very boring one. It's easily the most un-Scorcese film I've ever seen. There's a few shots here and there that are very "him" but otherwise he approaches this film completely different. The thing for me was that the story just wasn't very strong and felt repetitive. Rodrigues has his faith tested, is betrayed and tortured, or watches someone else get tortured because of him. Rinse, repeat.
If there's one thing that is truly amazing, it's Andrew Garfield's performance. I thought he was better here than he was in Hacksaw Ridge, which he's Oscar nominated for. Someone should scratch out that title and replace it with Silence. I feel a bit cheated though, because I was looking forward to Adam Driver and in a nearly three hour movie he's in it for maybe 20 minutes. Liam Neeson even less. Performance wise they're all strong, even though those accents are hard to get used to. Liam doesn't even attempt one, I guess that comes with being a long time actor? Nana Komatsu, Tadanobu Asano, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, and Yôsuke Kubozuka also give stand out performances in their little amounts of screen time.
The film's lone Oscar nomination is for cinematography, which is definitely deserves, but Silence left me wanting, well... less. I wanted to be moved by it, but I wasn't.
Recommended: Only because it's Scorcese.
Grade: C+
Memorable quote: "You want me to hear your confession?" - Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield)