One rarity among art house filmmakers was to tackle the concept of religion and spirituality, even at least in a favorable light. Whether it’s Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, some radical atheists are more subtle than others. But in a different aisle lie the great filmographies of Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorsese, Andrei Tarkovsky, Robert Bresson all with their varied ideas of faith and the metaphysical, but even those have yet to find their footing in the mainstream, as of yet. And while critics trip over themselves to shower 2001: A Space Odyssey with heaps of praise, little in comparison is spoken of The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Stalker, Andrei Rublev, Solaris whose preachings fail to find as many ears to reach. I'm not saying they're not incredibly revered by filmmakers and cinephiles, but I don't think they've quite had much success in the mainstream as Kubrick did.The same can be said when narrowing our scopes down to Martin Scorsese’s filmography. Audiences have always been caught up in the classic gangster tropes and overblown violence of Casino, GoodFellas, and The Departed, the crippling loneliness and gore of Taxi Driver, yet, The Last Temptaion of Christ’s legacy has only been smeared by controversy and debacle after debacle. After a fairly good string of financial success, Scorsese took another crack at a spiritual passion project with Silence, yet a large majority of theatres chipped it away in favor of the latest blockbuster, and it ended up in Scorsese’s small stack of Box Office failures, right up with –you guessed it- The Last Temptaion of Christ. And yet again, Scorsese is forced to jump back onto the gangster bandwagon to salvage his own funds, with The Irishman as with GoodFellas in the 90s, both of which opened to resounding critical and financial acclaim and hailed as comebacks for him.A personal, subjective (as is the subject material) and introspective look into Silence and spirituality in film is warranted, as I feel we’ll only appreciate this side of cinema Scorsese has so desperately attempted to highlight when it’s too late…Silence chronicles the harrowing journey of two Portuguese Jesuit priests, firm believers in Jesus representing the ultimate truth to mankind, who travel to the Far East in hopes of making a name for themselves in the legacy of Jesus’ apostles, all while investigating Father Ferreira’s apparent renouncing of the Christian faith, instead finding themselves caught in the whirlwind of Japan’s virulent war to preserve its culture, theology and customs against the coming nations of the West. And as the suffering, death toll and psychological warfare all grow to unimaginable heights, Rodrigues is only to be met with the film’s eponymous character… absolute Silence.***“I pray but I’m lost… am I just praying to Silence?”******“I prayed, too, Rodrigues. It doesn’t help.”******“What I have done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What will I do for Christ?”***As the story advances, Rodrigues’ idea of faith is reshaped considerably, so he clings onto it with the idea of seeing himself as Jesus Christ, in his suffering.I'll avoid delving into spoilers. But every facet of filmmaking is at play, here. The sound design, the cinematography, the writing, the performances.I think the disappointing Box Office turnout for Scorsese's more spiritual outings largely has to do with an audience being alienated by the concept at its surface. But I feel as if (and excuse the expression) it's a tad dogmatic to revel in Kubrick's incredible visuals, his affinity for Nietzsche, yet not give someone of Scorsese's caliber a chance to be heard. Silence was largely shunned by theaters, in the US, in favor of other blockbusters and even December's awards movies. Yes, GoodFellas is a ton of fun to go back to, so is The Departed, but if that's all that we've taken away from Scorsese's filmography, then it's a damn shame. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2Njj8Z8
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