Silence is all, say the sages.
Silence watches the work of the ages;
In the book of Silence the cosmic Scribe has written his cosmic pages;
Silence is all, say the sages.
-- Sri Aurobindo
Don’t watch this film for a simple Sunday afternoon family outing, or to find respite from a hot summer day, it’s no slippery dip to ease your troubles away. On the contrary this story will irk the spotlight onto your most sanctimonious beliefs.
Two young padres, Father Rodriguez and Father Garupe set sail through the dark smoggy seas, starlight refracting their noble gaze. They are on their way to a God forsaken Japan, where the light has long but run out and the "Mission" is beyond tatters. The Samurai have choked the last Holy Spark from the infertile land. Into these hostile waters, on an old Junk they sail, to find out what has become of Father Ferreira, one of the founding members of Christianity in the area. Slanderous allegations have reached their homeland that their dear mentor has apostatised (renounced God) in public. They are going to find Ferreira to bear witness to his innocence or otherwise save his soul from eternal damnation.
No one can explain to a baby finally breaching their egg that their reality is about to crumble and it is such for the two young men. It truly is an epic and almost unfathomable tale. Scorsese was passed Shūsaku Endō’s novel by a bishop shortly after the release of The Last Temptation of Christ all the way back in 1988. It called to his heart and begun him on a pilgrimage that has finally found the light after almost thirty years.
There are some stunning shots that canonize this film, the image of three Japanese men of the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christians) strung to crosses and being brandished by waves is one image that will not too soon leave your memory, nor is the complete alienation of Rodriguez as he stands amongst a village where only stray cats remain to hear his voiceless sermon. The breath of stillness that a lone ship inhales against the night sky (a la the great Japanese film Ugetsu), and the 17th Century Nagasaki streets, seen from a caged almost hallucinogenic gaze all highlight the different contours of this tale.
The acting is superb, from the star-studded Japanese cast, to the younger talent of Andrew Garfield (Rodriguez) and Adam Driver (Garupe). Liam Neeson too plays a skilfully solemn role as Ferreira. Scorsese’s has a way of making his villains likeable and its no different here with the Inquisitor (Issei Ogata) and his translator (Tadanobu Asano) playing their brutal roles with humaneness and jest that bring an ironic lightness to an otherwise Stygian film.
The real lessons from the story protrude from the Silence, Rodriguez seems to come completely undone whenever he is left alone to it, when there is no congregation to preach to his words lose their meaning, it seems God is smiling at him through the darkness.
Finally, an opportunity for redemption comes through the most pious act imaginable, not a physical but a spiritual martyrdom, a headfirst dive into the unbridled chasm, as if the crucifixion was being played out in reverse.
The layers of message that Scorsese has delivered are stunning, and clearly the decades the have come and gone since he was first given the book have served as deep meditation for the greater challenge of the spirit. He has said that he feels he may be persecuted for this film by the “unspiritual”, yet I find what makes the tale so intriguing is the way it seems to fluctuate between both sides of the spectre.
Silence is open in Australian cinemas now.
