Martin Scorsese's long-gestating film Silence is based on End?'s novel, which he read shortly after his 1998 film Last Temptation of Christ was protested and condemned by the Catholic Church and other conservative Christians 28 years ago. It's almost impossible to capture the nuances of a novel like End?'s for the screen; Masahiro Shinoda tried in 1971, and End? reportedly hated the ending. But Scorsese comes about as close as one can imagine, and the results are challenging for both the faithful and the skeptic.
The struggle for faith in a world marked by suffering and God's silence is present in every frame of Silence. The answers in Scorsese's film, as in End?'s novel, are found in not in words, but in the spaces between them.
Read Full Article »