In Martin Scorsese's new film, “Silence,” he returns to "faith"

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Paul Elie

Ahead of Silence‘s trailer debut later this week, the film has received its first poster and a collection of new photos.

/td> A.O. Scott, now a chief film critic for The New York Times, once wrote that Martin Scorsese approaches filmmaking as “a priestly avocation, a set of spiritual exercises embedded in technical problems.” So it was with “Silence,” a novel about “the necessity of belief fighting the voice of experience,” as Scorsese has put it. To get the Jesuits’ beliefs right, he engaged the Rev. James Martin, an author and editor at large of the Jesuit weekly America. Filmmaker and priest had several colloquies at Scorsese’s home, and Martin worked intensively with Garfield and Driver. Just as De Niro learned to box for “Raging Bull,” they familiarized themselves with the rites and disciplines of the Jesuit priesthood to bring authenticity to their performances. [link]