Always Good Movies

Direction: Ben Gregor
Country: UK / USA

This fantasy adventure film, written by Simon Farnaby and directed by Ben Gregor, is more idiotic than funny. Visually gorgeous yet incredibly boring, it offers an overly childish depiction of pixies, fairies, and other eccentric creatures inhabiting enchanted forests and whimsical lands. As if that weren’t enough, it is burdened by several egregious musical numbers that nearly made me run out of the theater.

Based on The Faraway Tree series by British author Enid Blyton, the film lacks even a stitch of personality. Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man, 2012; 99 Homes, 2014) and Claire Foy (First Man, 2018) feel completely adrift, unable to bring conviction or vitality to their underwritten roles. The odds are high that you'll leave the theater disappointed because the larger the scope becomes, the less there is to care about. With such low dramatic stakes, don't be surprised if you find yourself begging for the end much sooner than expected.

Directed by Martin Scorsese
Country: USA

Widely respected American director Martin Scorsese, who gave us gems like “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”, didn’t quite succeed in passing to the screen all the power of the account he depicts in “Silence”, an epic historical drama he wrote with Jay Cooks based upon the Shusaku Endo’s 1966 novel of the same name.

The film, set in 17th-century Japan and focusing on the predicaments of a shaky Christianity, stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two missionary Jesuit priests, Father Sebastião Rodrigues and Father Francisco Garupe, respectively, who set foot in Nagasaki to find the missing Father Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson). The rumors are that Ferreira, verged by torture, ended up abdicating of his faith.
For the trip, they rely on the guidance of Kichijiro (Yosuke Kubozuka), a tormented alcoholic fisherman whose disguised faith doesn’t make him less tricky.

Once in Japan, the two men are welcomed by a secluded group of local Christians who live hidden in underground caves. They try to escape the ‘inquisitors’ and their torture.
Eventually, the resistant priests are caught, learning that coexistence between Christians and Japanese are impracticable. Their faith is put to test as they observe brothers and sisters being mercilessly burnt, drawn, humiliated, and both tortured and executed through dreadful methods.
Even when Ferreira finally shows his face, revealing new ideals, the film couldn’t leave behind its long-drawn-out development.

Religious faith topic was never better depicted as it was with Bergman, Bresson and Dreyer. Unfortunately, “Silence” didn’t allow Scorsese to be among them since faith doesn't live in it.
Even vulnerable in regard to flow and pace, he was able to create a minimally decent whole with the uneven parts. He achieved that by taking well advantage from the stunning cinematography by Denis Prieto as well as the strong acting.