Martin Scorsese's passion project spanning over 25 years, Silence, tracks the mission of two Jesuit priests in Japan. It's a beautifully shot movie - with stunning cinematography - but it is difficult to judge the movie beyond its visual merits.
Primarily - this is a movie about faith and culture; and about changes in both. The story takes place at a time where Christians are persecuted for their faith; as the Japanese traditionalists see the usurping religion replacing, not only Buddhism, but also the traditions of Japan. This resistance is itself not investigated in detail - but rather, the persecution and the hiding from this persecution becomes the centre of this story; leading to torture and death - of both villagers and priests.
My own interpretation is that this is a movie about Christianity (and by extent, Western civilisation)'s cultural superiority - about how people would rather convert, suffer and die, rather than stay in their own culture. It is unsettling and ultimately unsatisfactory - because in the end; there is very little looking at why - why would they convert? why are the officials unhappy?
