Silence

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Silence is a film I have been wanting to watch. Not only because it is a story that is in Japan but also I like stories about faith. However this turned out not to be as good a film in Scorsese (one of the directors whose films I almost always like) filmography. First the good things: Amazing cinematography, great sets and locations (Taiwan), wonderful costumes and art  direction, in addition to those a great cast who really did a good job. Asano Tadonobu, an actor I really like and think very very good looking was a nice surprise as far as I'm concerned. Never knew he was in this. Now the negatives: I have not read the novel but probably it is not that adaptable. Probably there are a lot of internal conflicts suffered by the characters that do not translate on screen. This brings me to the other negative; Andrew Garfield. This actor stuck out like a sore thumb. He was posing, rather than acting. Adam Driver would have been a better lead. I have nothing against Mr. Garfield, he was decent in Never Let Me Go but he just didn't work here. And the make up department failed in his regard. His hair looked too clean at all times (in comparison to Adam Driver's which really looked unwashed and miserable). The film at 2,5 hours may seem to long but I didn't even yawn once (I love Scorsese) but it felt uneven and I didn't FEEL the struggles the main character suffer through.

All in all only recommended if you are interested in the subject matter.