The Complexity and Existence of Faith

The most mature film Scorsese has ever made!

Silence — A 2016 film directed by Martin Scorsese, adapted from the novel written by Shūsaku Endō originally published in 1966 by the name Chinmoku.

Before this film, Martin Scorsese has directed a wild hit starring Leonardo Di Caprio, The Wolf of the Wall Street that became so much popular because of the use of nudity and profanity being used in it.

For me Scorsese is one director that never fails to astonish, he has never failed to create magic on screen through his movies. But Silence is one of the most mature movies he has ever directed since Raging Bull.

I have not seen it in 2016 but in late 2018 I discovered it on some online platform and have watched over multiple times and have always appreciated it more after each viewing.

There is always a special place for movies in my life since I discovered The Matrix when I was 4 or 5. I am very much interested in opening a video essay channel also but before that, I want to work on myself writing a proper script for the video.

So here I am writing about a movie that explores the complexity and existence of faith.

Faith has led us to do miracles

This is the first frame that you’ll see in the movie, it looks and feels like a vintage painting, the composition and the metaphors displayed in a single frame very broad.

You can clearly figure out that there has been a brutal crucifixion that has taken place by seeing those two heads.

The main basis of this film is that two catholic missionaries, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield)and Father Garupe (Adam Driver), travel to Japan in search of their mentor, Father Ferreira, (Liam Neeson) who is believed to have been promoting catholicism by breaking the law.

Silence is a passion project of Martin Scorsese and he delivers it with his utmost precision. From every aspect this film is a masterwork of direction, acting by both Hollywood and foreign actors, cinematography, and editing.

They traveled to Japan to confirm whether Father Ferreira was apostatized or not and in the search of finding father Ferreira they discovered the horrors and brutality of faith.

This was the first encounter when both father Rodrigues and Garupe discovered how strong and sacred the natives of Japan have developed faith in Christianity.

“On that day, the faithful received fresh hope, and I was renewed”

Father Rodrigues at this particular time by seeing and helping the faithful one considers himself as the only person who can empower the life of needful ones through his faith.

Later in the film encountering that people are ready to die for their faith (for their god) is the only way they can serve in paradise takes him to un-imaginable situations.

By seeing the brutal deaths of many innocent lives later in the film Father Rodrigues questioned himself and his god whether he is there or not.

There is one particular scene where I personally believe that the nature of the character is shown by a small nuance. We see a small chameleon-like thing when Kichijiro takes Father Rodrigues to his hut.

The way chameleon changes their color, I believe it shows as an early sign as to how the character Kichijio changes his words and belief throughout the film.

Crushing the existence of oneself and faith

The weight of your silence is terrible. I pray but I’m lost. Or am I just praying to nothing?

Father Rodrigues was considering himself a chosen one by God and he has the responsibility to empower others' lives with the miracle of faith. But In this particular scene, we can see how the faith has started to trample a little bit for the father.

After encountering many deaths in the front of his eyes, there comes a point when he finally encounters Father Ferreira who has left the faith in Christianity have seemed to find peace.

The faith in which the father was believing began to trample more when he saw the death of Father Garupe in front of his eyes. We see him talking with his own reasoning sitting in the prison.

The difference between faith and divinity

As we come close to the climax we see the discussion between him and Father Ferreira, where he explained that the people are not dying for their faith but are dying for you.

Father Rodrigues comes to the realization that his resistance is merely pride at this point, and that his lofty sense of faith is only adding to the suffering of innocent people. He has already suffered greatly and seen the suffering of others also.

In the climax, we see the complete deconstruction of faith, by seeing it I believe the director has succeeded in showing the honest as well the brutal side of faith.

I know in the world where we live in religion, faith and our belief in God are one of the most sensitive and complex topics. But faith is something that is personal and it should be under the limit.

While reading about this film, I discovered a wonderful statement on Reddit where he says that “the climax works because christ does not randomly appear and show himself, but rather, he only shows himself when Rodrigues’ is at a stage where his love for his fellow humans is greater than his pride in his faith. In the instant of compassion, God and humans are unified.”

There are plenty of discussions you can find for this movie on the internet but I urge you to just sit and watch it first before reading them. I have tried to not disclose much about the movie.

Silence is one of the top three favorite movies of mine directed by Martin Scorsese and I hope that this film will surely age over the period of time just like “The King of Comedy”.

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Disclaimer: These images are used in order to prove a point and to showcase the various aspects of the movies. The whole credit goes to the creator of this film and the crew behind it, I have used it just to interpret my thoughts.