Silence – Tim Cocker
Two students’ perspectives on the film: Spoiler Warning: This piece contains plot spoilers for Silence – Tim Cocker
“Silence,” directed by Martin Scorsese, is a film based upon of book written by Japanese author Shūsaku Endō depicting the journey of two 17th century Jesuit priests to Japan to search for their mentor who has been rumored to have denied the faith.
Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play the priests looking for their mentor, played by Liam Neeson.
The danger and persecution that greets them in Japan, a strictly Buddhist nation, makes up most of the plot.
Although opening to a very positive critical response, the movie underperformed at the box office thus far.
According to boxofficemojo.com, “Silence” has made more than $7 million worldwide.
The film is already out the local Regal Theater and seems to be an afterthought for many people.
No one seems to be discussing it.
Why is no one talking about this movie? Is it because it doesn’t appeal to a wide audience? Is it because it deals with controversial topics and raises hard questions? Is it because it is unlike other Christian films that are more popular with Christian audiences?
The fact that “Silence” is not being talked about more is troubling to me for two reasons.
The first reason has to do with Christian audiences.
It is troubling that Christian audiences don’t want to be challenged in their faith.
It is fine to want to find entertainment that is suitable and safe for family viewing, but this is a film that asks important and controversial questions that need to be asked.
There are questions about what type of persecution we would be willing to endure for our belief in Christ, and questions about the dangers of overseas missions in dangerous places and what it actual costs to be a Christian.
This is an unflinching and brutal movie to watch with an almost three hour runtime.
Christian audiences will question their own faith and dedication and hopefully be awakened from false reality that is comfortable American Christianity.
Most Christians in the world do not live the way we do in America.
Christians need to realize that the comfortable or complacent believer is the most dangerous type.
There is nothing wrong with Christian films directly targeted at believers that include a call to action, but not if movies that are challenging like “Silence” are ignored.
At the end of the film Andrew Garfield’s character apublically denies his faith in Christianity.
This is a tough thing to watch and may be met with backlash from Christian audiences.
Martin Scorsese is no stranger for controversy with faith-based films as he directed the controversial “The Last Temptation of Christ”, which tells a fictional story about the struggle between Jesus’ human and divine nature.
The troubling thing about the film for me is the way it is being viewed by critics.
Why is a film where a Christian ends up denying his faith in the end being praised for its creativity and artistic value, while movies like “Courageous” where Christians hold strongly to their values are mocked?
To be fair, comparing the objective filmmaking of “Silence” and most Christian movies released is like comparing LeBron James with a player from a local church basketball league.
At the same time it is discouraging that strong Christian values are often pushed to the background of Hollywood.
I pray God raises up filmmakers who will create quality content while displaying a positive Christian message.
I implore Christians to see this film. I also pray that Christians remember that although the movie makes it seem like God is silent amidst Christian suffering, he certainly is not.
Remember we have a God who suffered and died to have a relationship with us. Suffering is never in vain when we suffer for Christ.
It says in Romans that present sufferings do not compare to the glory that will be revealed.
Believers have the ability and the responsibility to endure persecution and speak up with the message of Christ.
Christians can have the strength to not stay silent because they serve a God who is not.