Silence (2016) [Movie Review]



Dir: Martin Scorcese
Starring: Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver
Dur: 2 hrs 42 mins
Genre: Drama
PG: People are shown enduring torture and death
Rating: 6/10

The name of the film reflects adroitly its nature. It tells the dramatic story of the last two Jesuit missionaries to Japan. The film is perhaps only the second of its kind after Mission, which depicts the life of Jesuits missionaries in South America, and hence the director and crew need to be commended for their choice of bringing this story to the silver screen. The film may not appeal to non-Christians as it is explicitly Christian in words and gestures but it does have some star power. Andrew and Adam Driver are brilliant. The story is poignant and startling at once. It is bound to leave ‘grounded’ people (I mean people who are knowledgeable and passionate about the faith) like myself, shocked. It took me a few days to overcome my initial shock and some of the effects still linger.

I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen the film but every Christian, in my opinion must take the time to view the film. It is challenging yet real. It gives a pretty good description of what it is like to be Christian under persecution. The background is 19th century Japan. Two young and zealous Jesuit priests beseech their superior to permit them to go to Japan in search of their mentor and idol, who is believed to have apostatized. Their adventures are the substance of the film. The dialogues are strong and potent but it is the actions that really make an impression. The outcome is shocking and true to the facts.

The film has some good stuff to offer. There is plenty to reflect about. For starters, one can reflect on whether or not one takes one’s faith for granted. The film is rather long but the experiences of the people depicted in it are sure to tug at heart strings.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more