Ever since I started to review the movies I watched, I've tried to distinguish between two measures of quality: How much I personally enjoyed a movie versus how closely I felt the movie came to achieving what appeared to be it's goals as a work of art. Often, a movie may score highly for me on one of these categories but not the other - like every moviegoer, I have specific tastes and personal interests which may conflict with a movie's aesthetic, even if the movie is well crafted. I did not see many theatrical releases in 2016, and when my friend randomly suggested we see a newly released film by director Martin Scorsese, the only foresight I had going in to Silence was that it had something to do with Portuguese Jesuits in 17th century feudal Japan.

Silence is one of the best movies I have ever seen. This enormous historical epic is so finely crafted and carefully constructed that it's three hour runtime felt not only deserved, but appropriate. As a fan of minimalism in art, I was struck by the creativity with which this film utilized its own medium as a storytelling device. Long, aching stretches of quiet scenes never feel wasteful as much as enriching. My personal fascination with feudal Japanese culture was also rewarded time and again, as this movie goes to what must have been unbelievable lengths to fashion an authentic world and characters. The bare, worldly aesthetics of this movie are effective in imparting a layered message upon the viewer.

Let's talk about that, and what may be the elephant in the room for many modern viewers. This movie, perhaps unsurprisingly due to it's premise, carries an enormous number of Christian overtones and undertones. I refuse to spoil this film, so I cannot easily wave these fears away by going into detail on the nuance Scorsese uses to approach the topic of religion, but what I can say is that this movie is not interested in convincing you of anything. This is a film about Christianity, and as a nonbeliever myself, it was one of the most striking and moving arguments I have ever witnessed for that strange practice of human spirituality.

Silence is hands down my 2016 Film of the Year. It not only succeeded aesthetically for me on all counts, but set out with a mission to make a bold statement about religion and human nature in a time where religious and ideological zealotry is on the rise in our world. There is so, so much more I wish I could say about this film, but everybody who reads this deserves the opportunity to experience this movie's brilliance on their own terms. I hope it can move you the way it moved me.