Martin Scorsese has dropped some major details about his next film, and it’s about Jesus.
Speaking with The LA Times, Scorsese shared that after meeting with Pope Francis in May, he completed a screenplay for a film about Jesus that he plans to shoot later this year. The story will be based on the book A Life of Jesus by Shūsaku Endō, who also wrote Silence, which Scorsese adapted in 2016.
The film will focus on Jesus’ core teachings in a way that “explores the principles but doesn’t proselytize.”
“I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative onus of what has been associated with organized religion,” Scorsese said.
The director shared that he wants audiences to rethink their idea of religion, especially in light of how it has been used today.
“Right now, ‘religion,’ you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways,” Scorsese said. “But that doesn’t mean necessarily that the initial impulse was wrong. Let’s get back. Let’s just think about it. You may reject it. But it might make a difference in how you live your life — even in rejecting it. Don’t dismiss it offhand. That’s all I’m talking about. And I’m saying that as a person who’s going to be 81 in a couple of days. You know what I’m saying?”
Many of Scorsese’s movies have explored religion in Christianity, including the award-winning film The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988. Ahead of the release of Silence, Scorsese spoke with RELEVANT about how his Catholic faith has inspired much of his greatest work.
“Where do I go to find the meaning of existence and the meaning of life? For me, it’s Christianity,” Scorsese said. “That’s the real saving grace of our world, of our species really. Truth is within the behavior of the daily life of yourself. I know it has to be there. That’s where we get to compassion and love.”
