Films Worth Talking About, Even If Difficult: Silence
Thursday, February 26, 6 – 9 p.m.
This spring, the film series Films Worth Talking About, Even If Difficult expands its programming into a broader interpretive territory. “Difficult films” are not limited to films that are emotionally challenging or politically provocative; they can also refer to films that are visually experimental, sonically demanding, historically complex, or with multi-threaded or temporally shifting narratives. Ultimately, the series is a cinematic pretext for hanging out, eating, and talking—a communal exercise where we discuss, discover, and sometimes disagree, which is all part of the experience.
About the first screening this semester:
Silence, directed in 2016 by Martin Scorsese, is a historical drama about belief, doubt, and perseverance. It follows two 17th-century Portuguese Jesuit priests who travel to Japan to find their mentor, rumored to have committed apostasy. Amidst brutal persecution of Christians, they face tests of faith and experience immense physical and psychological suffering. Silence deftly explores themes of cultural conflict, the nature of internal faith versus public depictions, power, colonial expansion, and the Tokugawa Shogunate’s perspective on foreign subversion. With a deliberate pace, Silence is an extended and nuanced meditation on a complex question rather than a swift, superficial filmic answer.
Panelists:
Father George Drance, S.J., Artist-in-Residence, Theatre Program; Father Michael Zampelli, S.J., Associate Professor, Theatre Program; and Professor James McCartin, Associate Professor, Department of Theology and Dean Fellow. Moderated by Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, Head of Visual Arts. Open to all, with pizza and a raffle prize.
The Office of the Arts and Sciences Dean invites you to step outside your regular streaming queue, experience something different, and join a community of curious film lovers throughout the year. Please bring your friends, an open mind, and have a question ready. Additionally, to sweeten the deal, we offer raffle items connected to the film. By participating, you could walk away with a special prize AND a different perspective.
Previously:
Dahomey, directed in 2024 by Mati Diop.
Panelists: Associate Professor of African and African American Studies/Comparative Literature/Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Laurie Lambert and Associate Professor of Art History Maria Ruvoldt, moderated by Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, Clinical Professor, Head of the Visual Arts Program, Dean Fellow.
The Exorcist, directed in 1973 by William Friedkin, based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty.
Sponsored by The Office of the Arts & Sciences Dean and the Visual Arts Program.
Panelists: Dr. Rachel Annunziato, Professor of Psychology, Vice Dean for Arts & Sciences; Father David Marcotte, S.J., Associate Professor of Psychology, and moderator Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, Clinical Professor, Head of the Visual Arts Program, Dean Fellow.
Akira, directed in 1988 by Katsuhiro Otomo, based on his 1982 manga Akira.
Sponsored by the FitzSimons Civics and Civility Initiative in collaboration with the Office of the Arts & Sciences Dean and the Visual Arts Program.
Panelists: Nushelle de Silva, Assistant Professor of Art History; Terrence Mosley, Adjunct Professor, Theatre Program; Anthony A. Berry, FitzSimons Fellow; and moderator Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, Clinical Professor, Head of the Visual Arts Program, Dean Fellow.
