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Martin Scorsese's Silence will premiere at the Vatican

Andrew Garfield in Scorsese's epic. Credit: Paramount
Andrew Garfield in Scorsese’s epic. Credit: Paramount

It seems Martin Scorsese’s latest movie, ‘Silence’, will make its debut at the holiest of venues.

With the first trailer making its way out this week, Scorsese’s latest epic is a seventeenth century depiction of two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who travel to Japan to spread the word of Christianity.

According to the Guardian, the movie’s premiere will happen at the Pontifical Oriental Institute for the Jesuits in Rome, Italy. However, it’s not thought that Pope Francis himself will be in attendance. That said, around 400 priests and other guests will join the ‘Goodfellas’ helmer in being the first audience to see the project that’s been in development for some time.

In fact, Scorsese has reveals the film has been in development for a whopping 27 years and one that the legendary director described as “an obsession.”

It’s been well documented just how long Scorsese’s been trying to bring his dream to the big screen – since early 1990. Along the way there have been various big names attached to the project, such as Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio del Toro, and Gael García Bernal.


The 159-minute historical drama is a hot favourite to pick up some Oscars at the next Academy Awards, especially after the short trailer wowed a lot of people with its impressive footage. Filmed around Taipei, ‘Silence’ cost a modest $50 million, which is far less than his other movies, such as the $100 million budget for his comedy-biography ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’.

His latest religious centric film is based around the highly acclaimed 1966 novel by Shusaku Endo, where two missionaries, Rodrigues and Garrpe (played by Garfield and Driver), travel to Japan to track down Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson). But in 17th-century Japan Christianity is banned and anyone who practiced it was tortured and executed, thus proving dangerous when the pair go over to spread the word.

‘Silence’ marks Scorsese’s return to the big screen and is his first movie since his 2013’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie. While its five Oscar nominations saldy didn’t prevail, there’s every chance his new feature will.

‘Silence’ is in UK cinemas on 1 January, 2017.

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