Before it was released, "Silence" was regarded as one of the most popular films in the 2016 awards season. However, after the film was released in the United States, it did not attract enough attention from the public, and it failed to make amazing achievements in a series of award nominations. However, this does not conceal the fact that the movie "Silence" is a masterpiece.
The most criticism of "The Silence" comes from the rhythm of the film's Wen Tun. I personally think that this accusation is inappropriate. In fact, the film has maintained a very stable and effective rhythm arrangement in the process of advancing. The 160-minute length does not delay. The film is quite sophisticated and uses motivational events to promote the logical progression of the story. Compared with Shinoda Masahiro's version, the fragmented narrative is actually closer to the expression of the film. The open line throughout the story is that Rodriguez and Father Gape went to Japan to find the missing Father Ferreira, while the dark line is the change in the protagonist Rodriguez’s personal approach to his beliefs. Although the narration runs throughout, it has never appeared as a form of interference or a substitute for the lens language narrative.
Beyond the main line, the film uses a wealth of stimulating events to build enough tension for each act to advance the story. The first four chapters of the original novel are letters written by Rodriguez. In this letter, the former describes himself as a firm and enthusiastic missionary. After entering the fifth chapter, the writer cuts into the narrative in the third person and gradually breaks the reader. And Rodriguez's personal understanding of Rodriguez. This kind of reading experience is difficult to visualize, so in Scorsese's film, the epistemic talk introduction is resolved into several dramatic progressive stages, that is, landing, suspicious, preaching, and separation There is an inevitable logical cause and effect between being captured. In this process, in addition to the careful arrangement of the script, the outstanding performances of many Japanese actors are indispensable. Restricted by the original novel and historical literature, except for Rodriguez and Yoshijiro, most of the characters' images are actually relatively flat, but in the movie, the group of characters come to life instantly, and Yoshijiro played by Yosuke Kubotuka comes out of the scene. To the end, both the two sides are mutually external and internal, which perfectly embodies the original setting. The pious Christian villagers' tolerance, persistence, and sacrifice have also been shown to be extremely impactful and contagious, and the biggest surprise is Ogataichi. Translator played by Inoue and Tadanobu Asano.
The content of the debate in the original book is called the channel to show the personality of the characters, which makes Rodriguez's journey of asking questions more dramatic, but it does not detract from the difficulty of philosophical strength. In the novel, the purpose of these two characters seems to be to set Rodriguez as a debating opponent and to pave the way for Ferreira’s debut, but Ogata and Asano give these two roles completely different roles. This cunning temperament is not only different from Shinoda’s expressionless argument in Masahiro Shinoda’s version, but also different from the flatness of ordinary characters who persecute the truth. Although the two characters are doing things that are contrary to the theme of the movie, they are Given sufficient persuasive power, this is probably the reason why many viewers who do not believe in Christianity understand these two "villains" better.
Another major feature of this film is the panoramic restoration of the original content. In many cases, this approach is usually unpleasant, but because of the logicalization of the scattered narrative mentioned above, the film Avoid this risk. Therefore, this film is not a work that deliberately promotes the connotation of the theme while ignoring the laws of artistic production. I personally think that the questioning of the rhythm of the film actually comes from the resistance of some viewers to the subject matter itself.
This question actually involves what the theme of the movie is, but the foothold of this article is that the excellence of the film is not only about the weight of the theme, so I won’t elaborate on it. Rodriguez was captured in the middle of the movie. This arrangement is actually very interesting, because here the dramatic conflict has taken a turn. Before that, Rodriguez was worried about how to endure the hardship. The environment, how to protect the physical freedom and safety of himself and the believers, and how to identify traitors, but he gradually believed that after being caught in such an environment, his arrest this time declared that all these efforts were in vain. Therefore, after experiencing a series of external failures, he gradually had to face the question that he repeatedly avoided in his narration, but finally faced: Why is God silent?
The following is the essence of the movie. In the three dialogues, Rodriguez wants to prove to the aggressive enemy, the mentor who abandoned the bright and the dark, and the wavering self to prove that his persistence is meaningful, and the design of the movie in this part It was more straightforward and powerful. The first half threw Rodriguez into the cage in a step-by-step manner, announcing his fruitless struggle. With three dialogues, it could only be three tortures, forcing him to do something. Three selected tortures. No matter from any aspect, the three dialogues are extremely expressive, and Scorsese finally ended the progressively increasing expressiveness in a set of slow-motion, silenced shots. The paintings, oracles, and cock crows in the original work are perfectly displayed without any detail. After that, without any transitional lens language, the protagonist’s life after abandoning religion is suddenly revealed. This is also the most commonly used in this film. One of the editing techniques used to end the gradual gradual narrative with abrupt insertions does not give the audience a chance to breathe. Therefore, in such a situation, one cannot understand the comments that accuse the story of being too silent.
In addition, in these three extremely tense passages, the film is extremely stingy in the use of soundtracks, and uses a large number of natural sounds to enhance the atmosphere. This is completely different from the flashy soundtracks of "Good Guy" and "The Wolf of Wall Street". Compared with Scorsese’s usual and sports lenses, the film uses more steady parallel movement and even direct editing between fixed lenses. Scorsese’s personal interpretation of this is that he wants to make a "Japanese-style" movie. Regardless of its intentions, this adaptation is successful and fits the original work. Through the eyes of this priest, all the pain seems to have a sense of solemn ritual, but this extremely devout believer gradually began to question and evade the rituals he once believed in, but the almost patterned camera movement is true. It was like a cage trapped him, threatening him to face everything he avoided. This is also the most intuitive perceptual knowledge given to the audience by the movie "The Silence". This sense of depression comes with a biological original sin derived from Christianity.
In the last ten minutes of the movie, the story seemed to gradually ease. The original novel historical documentary narrative method was put on the stage. The narrator used a lifeless monologue to show the audience the protagonist’s gradual sinking life, but with Yoshijiro’s sudden reappearance and the secrets of Rodriguez’s funeral, the director teased the audience. Here, the protagonist’s elementary, simple sacrifice enthusiasm and saint’s self-esteem finally turned into true compassion and faith, Yoshijiro also in his eyes No longer the incurable deserter who had no choice but to take care of him, at this moment, Rodriguez understood Yoshijiro, Yoshijiro understood God, and we also understood Scorsese. Here, Andrew Garfield and Yosuke Kubotazuka's performance is decent. Compared with the hysteria that the two had gradually gone into madness before, this slightly cramped serenity, like quenching, made the characters and the story complete. Reflect the beginning of the movie and end in the birdsong.
The problems that "Silence" brings to the audience are many and varied. It can be a journey of Christian quest, it can be a barbaric collision between Eastern and Western cultures in the feudal period, or even a simple one for historical hobbies. The author’s exquisite samples, at least in these three aspects, "Silence" has achieved first-class standards. But before that, as far as the artistic creation itself is concerned, Scorsese's ability to respect foreign cultures and improve self-expression has reached its level, fully retelling the content of the original novel without being restricted by the literary form, and trying to suppress the sensational bridge. But still shocking. These real guarantees for the final quality of the film may be something that filmmakers should learn from in addition to self-expression. In other words, it is precisely with this kind of artistic heritage and expressive ability that the passion for expression can truly be transformed into Excellent work of art.
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