Silence (2012)

Directed by: Pat Collins
Country: Ireland / Germany

Movie Review: Structured like a docudrama, “Silence” is a vague and occasionally haunting exercise on sound and childhood memories. Documentarian Pat Collins makes here an enigmatic transition into fiction to tell the subliminal experiences of Eoghan, a sound recordist now living in Germany, who goes back to its origins in Ireland, 15 years after his departing. With the single purpose to find and record places completely forgot by men, Eoghan has a few casual encounters and meaningful conversations with strangers who, deep down inside are just like him, solitary souls populating desolated landscapes. Ponderous, philosophical, visually and auditorily absorbing, “Silence”, might seem narrow in terms of plot for many viewers, but can stir some emotions and provoke our minds somehow. Sometimes it makes us fall in the nostalgic torpor of the mountain field’s tranquility, just to overwhelm us again with the sepia tones of an old video recording of a fishermen’s boat and a dog’s drowning in the sea, or the visit to a local museum that keeps record of documents and photographs of families that had to abandon their island, or a young man who brings to Eoghan’s mind the dilemmas of leaving home. After “Berberian Sound Studio” has used the factor sound in a completely different way, now is the time of “Silence” emerge with a much more deep conception and approach. Do we have a new trend on modern independent film? I don’t think so, but this one may offer something worthwhile if you have sufficient patience for its quietness.