USA TODAY International Edition
MARTIN SCORSESE’S PRIESTHOOD AMBITIONS PAVED THE ROAD TO ‘ SILENCE’
NEW YORK On the surface, a slow- burning religious epic about 17th- century Jesuit missionaries may seem like unusual territory for Martin Scorsese, an auteur of the modern gangster movie.
But get the Oscar winner talking about his own spiritual journey, and the puzzle pieces of
Silence quickly fall into place. Adapted from Shūsaku Endō’s 1966 historical novel, Silence ( now showing in select cities, expands nationwide Friday) follows two Portuguese priests ( Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) facing persecution for preaching Christianity in Japan. Though the film isn’t considered a lock for an Os- cars best- picture nomination, it is a contender: 15 out of 28 experts at awards site GoldDerby. com predict it lands a spot, while 18 experts anticipate that Scorsese will get a best- director nod.
It’s a story of tested faith and immense passion that struck a chord with Scorsese, 74, who was raised Catholic in a rough- andtumble neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 1950s.
Unable to play sports or spend time outside because of his severe asthma, Scorsese found sanctuary in movie theaters and the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, where he was an altar boy.
“There was a special feeling in that cathedral, and I liked it,” Scorsese says. “There was a peace of mind, and outside, there was nothing but strife. ... The church was something very special, and I took it very seriously.”
He was particularly inspired by Father John Principe, a worldly twentysomething priest who introduced him and his peers to new music and films, while also acting as a moral compass. Hoping to emulate Principe, Scorsese attended seminary school as a teenager, but was kicked out after one year for roughhousing and frequent tardiness.
“I thought if I could become a priest, I could be like him or as influential as he was at that time for us,” Scorsese says. “I didn’t realize that a vocation is a real calling. It’s much more than wanting to be like somebody else.”
But “the interest in things spiritual never went away and a lot of that energy went into the films,” starting with his Catholic- centered debut feature, 1967’ s Who’s That Knocking at My Door.
Whether depicting a deranged vet looking to cleanse the streets of corruption ( 1976’ s Taxi Driver) or a violent middleweight boxer grappling with sexual insecurity and redemption ( 1980’ s Raging
Bull), Scorsese has long asked if “one can live a life of compassion in a materialistic, power- hungry world,” says Thomas R. Lindlof, author of Hollywood Under Siege: Martin Scorsese, the Religious Right, and the Culture Wars. “His films are intended as different ways of asking that question, with no illusion that it can ever be answered or resolved.”
Even as he has made more overtly religious dramas such as 1988’ s controversial The Last
Temptation of Christ and 1997’ s Kundun, about the 14th Dalai Lama, Scorsese says his own faith has “ebbed and flowed,” as he weathered four divorces and recovered from drug addiction. “It’s complicated,” he adds, “but I’m searching for the same things.”
His willingness to engage with others about religion proved beneficial on the set of Silence, which has been largely well- received.
“He is very on the surface with his struggle and knows that keeping that private does a disservice to the project,” Driver says. “Once you start attaching meaning to what you’re doing, the scenes starts to take on a different life.”
Scorsese “can’t help but inject his personality into his films and with his actors,” he adds. “He’s a true artist.”