Martin Scorsese has been in the limelight recently for the success of his latest movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon‘ which won several accolades and recognition across the globe. While the movie has left a mark making it one of the best movies made in 2023, Scorsese fans are now looking forward to his next project.
Reports suggest that the director has finalized the screenplay for his upcoming film centered on the life of Jesus. He was speaking about the movie during an interview with the Los Angeles Times. He revealed more details during the interview setting the tone for its release as fans continue to anticipate its plotline.
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Martin Scorsese Wants To Take Away “Negative Onus Of What Is Associated With Organized Religion”
Martin Scorsese had initially teased the project in May last year and revealed that the filming is scheduled for later this year. He also said that the film is anticipated to have a concise duration of 80 minutes.
Speaking about his approach towards the upcoming movie, Scorsese explained how he wants to change the narrative around the concept of religion. “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,” he said.
The project is co-written by Scorsese and critic-filmmaker Kent Jones, and is based on Shūsaku Endō’s book ‘A Life of Jesus’. Scorsese has previously collaborated with Endō on the adaptation of ‘Silence‘ in 2016.
The director also responded to the Pope’s call to artists during the interview. “I responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” he said. Unlike Scorsese’s typically lengthy films, like ‘Killers of a Flower Moon‘, the Jesus film is much shorter.
Scorsese said the film will be set predominantly in the present day and will focus more on the core teachings of Jesus rather than on a specific religious doctrine. Scorsese also talked about the relevance of re-examining the concept of “religion” in contemporary discourse.
“Right now, ‘religion,’ you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways. 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,” he said.
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Scorsese Says He Is Bringing Together All Themes He Has Explored Throughout His Career
The filmmaker said he views this project as a culmination of themes explored throughout his career, including ideas like redemption, the human condition, and societal morality. “I tried finding it with Kundun and The Last Temptation of Christ, even Gangs of New York, to a certain extent, ways into redemption and the human condition and how we deal with the negative things inside us,” he said.
“Are we decent and then learn to become indecent? Can we change? Will others accept that change? And it really is, I think, a fear of society and culture that’s corrupted because of its lack of grounding in morality and spirituality. Not religion. Spirituality. Denying that,” he added.
“It’s finding my own way in a … if you want to say the term ‘religious’ sense, but I hate to use that language, because it’s misinterpreted often. But there’s a basic fundamental beliefs that I have — or I’m trying to have — and I’m using these films to find it,” Scorsese continued during the interview.
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