SR | ‘Silence’ Review

SR

The main setting of Japan (“played” here by Taiwan and Taipei) is gorgeously photographed by Scorsese and Silence cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (The Wolf of Wall Street), with visual motifs of rainy days and mist-covered mountains creating a sense of atmosphere that is no doubt meant to emulate the painterly storytelling style commonly associated with arthouse Japanese cinema. Problem is, Silence comes off more as an imitation of that style than one that Scorse comfortably appropriates and makes feel like his own here. This is most apparent in the film’s careful, yet also heavy-handed use of sound and, yes, silence (for thematic effect) and its pacing – which tends to drag over the course of the film’s lengthy runtime, rather than pass by unnoticeable.