Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader have a lengthy history together, beginning when the former directed the latter’s screenplay, Taxi Driver. They teamed up again for Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Bringing Out the Dead, and their paths crossed on yet another occasion when Scorsese was gearing up to adapt Shusako Endo‘s 1966 novel, Silence, for the big screen. The 2016 drama centers on 17th-century Jesuit priests Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) who, upon discovering their mentor (Liam Neeson) has committed apostasy, travel to Japan to locate him during a time when Christianity was forbidden in the country. A passion project that was years in the making for Scorsese, Silence explores weighty themes regarding faith, conviction, and personal sacrifice and, as it turns out, strongly resonated with Schrader, who has admitted he once made an attempt to direct the film himself.
Paul Schrader Tried to Steal ‘Silence’ from Martin Scorsese
After an Episcopal archbishop recommended Shusako Endo’s novel, Martin Scorsese read Silence while in Japan in 1989. Struck by its powerful narrative and thematic content, he felt it would be “an amazing picture to make,” but was unsure about how to translate its seemingly elusive nature to the screen. Despite his reservations, however, the notion of adapting Silence proved too enticing for Scorsese to dismiss, leading to what became a decades-long development process. At the same time, Paul Schrader took an interest in Endo’s novel and had aspirations of his own to turn Silence into a film.
Years after the fact, while promoting his own faith-based drama, First Reformed, Schrader admitted he tried to swipe the project away from Scorsese. “I tried to steal that script from him 20, 30 years ago; he caught me,” said Schrader in 2017. He further acknowledged Scorsese’s difficulty with reconciling the story’s historical setting with modern sensibilities related to evolving perceptions of missionary work, telling Filmmaker Magazine, “I think he had a very big problem with that film setting it in the past, because the premise under which that book was written no longer applies.” While Scorsese would ultimately prevail over Schrader in getting Silence made, taking Endo’s novel from page to screen was anything but easy.
‘Silence’ Took Martin Scorsese Decades to Make
Though he’d wanted to make Silence since 1989, Martin Scorsese’s adaptation didn’t hit theaters until December 2016, capping off a lengthy period of development and execution that was fraught with obstacles. “It’s been an obsession, it has to be done and now is the time do it,” the filmmaker said in 2013. Aside from the inherent difficulty of securing finance for a 161-minute faith-based drama with an R rating, casting the film proved to be a lengthy process, with heavyweights like Daniel Day-Lewis and Benicio Del Toro reportedly in consideration to join the project in 2009.
Further complications ensued in 2012 after Scorsese set Silence aside once more. According to Deadline, he was sued by Cecchi Gori Pictures, which accused him of violating an agreement to direct the film before helming 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street. In response, Scorsese’s publicity team denied the allegations as “shocking,” further alleging that the company’s claims “are contradicted by, inconsistent with, and contrary to the express terms of an agreement entered into by the parties last year.” While Scorsese and Cecchi Gori Pictures ultimately settled the matter, the former was hit with yet another lawsuit by screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, who maintained he was owed $600,000 for his work as a writer and executive producer on Silence. Scorsese denied that the film’s final draft, which he co-wrote with Jay Cocks, used any of Kazan’s previously written material. This, too, resulted in an undisclosed settlement in 2016.
After 27 years of development and legal battles, Silence finally hit theaters in December 2016. While it was hailed by critics, Scorsese’s passion project failed to attract much of an audience, grossing a mere $23 million worldwide on a $50 million budget. Despite underperforming with moviegoers, Silence sees Scorsese deliver some of his most contemplative, philosophical, and haunting storytelling to date, reflecting his lifelong relationship to faith and spirituality while giving viewers plenty to ponder long after the end credits roll.
Silence is currently available to stream on Kanopy in the U.S.
