Robert Chipman
Welcome to this column dedicated to my appreciation of physical media supplements called Feature Presentations. The goal of this column is not to say whether a film is good or bad and worth picking up or not; I would like to highlight the discs that go the extra mile and provide film fans with enough tasty tidbits to satisfy even the hungriest of cinephiles. Today’s article will focus on Silence from the “Martin Scorsese Films of Faith” collection via Imprint Films.
I never have or will claim to be an expert in reviewing the technical specs of a physical media release. There are plenty of knowledgeable people in this realm of commenting on the audio and video aspects of a disc with better setups than I’ll ever own. This column, Feature Presentations, is a way of highlighting the supplemental material within a given disc. With all that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff and dive into my review of this Blu-ray release of Silence.
As a disclaimer of transparency for this episode of Feature Presentations, my review of Silence comes from a review copy that Imprint Films provided for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Out of the three cinematic offerings from the Imprint Films “Martin Scorsese Films of Faith” collection: The Last Temptation of Christ, Kundun, and Silence was the movie that felt the most daunting to me. I distinctly recall when the film hit theaters, I had multiple chances to see it in cinemas, but the dense subject manner and elongated runtime kept me away. I know that’s no excuse not to see the movie, but as much as I adore Martin Scorsese’s work, I always had excuses to put it on the back burner.
That was the past; this is now.
Based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō, the 2016 film adaptation follows two Jesuit priests to 17th century Japan in search of an elder priest who claims to have renounced his faith. Upon arrival, the two priests run afoul of some of the locals, and what was once an outward search for an external soul becomes an inward search for the Jesuit priests’ souls and the price of faith.
I won’t say that some of my feelings were unfounded, as Silence is an extremely long and, at times, dour experience. It needs to be. It is the point of the film. In that regard, Silence excels at portraying the inner and outer struggles of faith and what that means to each person. It’s a beautiful film and crafted expertly, as one would expect from an auteur like Martin Scorsese. Even if Silence and the dark journey of which the characters are what I expected, and not the type of film I will revisit often, one cannot deny that it’s a labor of love. And an expertly crafted one at that.
Silence is the only film in the collection that gets a one-disc release, but Imprint Films makes the most of it.
Kicking things off is a feature-length audio commentary with cinema historian Stuart Galbraith IV, co-writer Jay Cocks, and historical consultant M. Antoni J. Ucerler, S.J. While this may sound like a terrific group of characters to spend the two-hours and forty-one minutes of the film with, the track is slightly misleading. Galbraith IV spends the opening few minutes discussing certain aspects of the production before separate interviews with Cocks and Ucerler are edited in. Sometimes, the nature of splicing interviews together can feel clunky in commentaries, but here, each interview comes in and plays through, with the succeeding discussion afterward. What you end up with are two lengthy interviews with Cocks and Ucerler and additional comments peppered in by Galbraith IV.
What I enjoyed about this feature is we are privy to two different aspects of Silence: from those in the production. Cocks discusses his 50-plus-year relationship with Martin Scorsese, the lengthy process from the first draft through the finished film, and what it’s like to work with the director. Ucerler, on the other hand, comes to the track with the historical knowledge needed to be an adviser on a project as detailed as Silence. He discusses the past in context with the film, working with Scorsese and Cocks—even though he never met them, and the finished product. The balancing of the three main contributors is well done, and each provided their observations and details to make a well-crafted and thorough audio commentary.
Film scholar Ian Christie returns and goes three-for-three as he discusses Silence. As with the other interviews featuring Christie, his knowledge of the director goes a long way to springboard into the film’s deeper themes. Christie delves into Scorsese‘s Catholic background and how that helped form the director’s thinking and approach to the movie. He then transitions into foreign films and how the works of Akira Kurosawa, including appearing in the director’s 1990 film Dreams, and Ingmar Bergman formulated the rich locales and human complexities featured in Silence. Christie’s comments are invaluable on this film and throughout the entire collection and add layers of detail about the director and the movies in this box set.
Imprint Films includes the slickly-produced, 25-minute featurette, “Martin Scorsese’s Journey Into Silence,” generated for the film’s theatrical release. Combining behind-the-scenes footage, talking head interviews, and shots from the finished film, “Martin Scorsese’s Journey Into Silence,” hits all the marks one would expect from a mainstream featurette without scratching too far beneath the surface. One of my favorite bits from the making-of features actor Issey Ogata discussing how his villainous role in Silence developed and how he approaches every role he takes. There is not much essential, but this is the only place on the disc where you hear from stars Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, and many of the crew, so I am thankful for its inclusion.
As an off-shoot from “Martin Scorsese’s Journey Into Silence,” you get slightly extended interview soundbites from the cast and crew. The feature runs about six minutes, but, like the featurette, it’s filled with surface-level details and back-patting, so those looking for anything of artistic value will not find much here.
Silence comes to a close with the film’s theatrical trailer.
And there you have it! Silence brings the curtain down on the Imprint Films “Martin Scorsese Films of Faith” collection with a difficult yet rewarding experience. While the 2016 film is easily the most challenging of the three movies, the passion that went into it is clear and obvious. That sentiment is also true of Imprint Films, who have done a magnificent job compiling some of the legendary director’s most personal and profound works and crafted a box set that should sit on every film fan’s shelf.
