Martin Scorsese Is Making A Movie About Jesus
For the second time in his career, Martin Scorsese is making a film about Jesus Christ.
Legendary film director Martin Scorsese is pulling from his religious roots for a new film. Scorsese has had a relationship with Catholicism his entire life, which has inspired religious themes throughout his films. As reported by Variety, the director announced after a meeting with the Pope that he intends to make another film about the Son of God.
On Saturday, Martin Scorsese and his wife, Helen Morris, met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Afterward, the filmmaker attended a conference called The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination. There, Scorsese announced his plan to add another religious film to his previous Christian works, 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ and 2016’s Silence.
“I have responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” Martin Scorsese said. “And I’m about to start making it.” Scorsese’s agent did not comment on the filmmaker’s plans; it is unclear whether or not the religious film will be Scorsese’s next project, as he has several in development.
Martin Scorsese was reportedly touched by Pope Francis’s message to “let us see Jesus”. The director spoke about how Last Temptation and Silence were two major steps in the filmmaker’s personal identification of the character of Jesus. Another film focused on the Christ figure could be another key development for Scorsese.
The Last Temptation of Christ was overall well received by critics, earning Martin Scorsese a Best Director nod at the Oscars. The film was also a source of significant controversy for its deviation from the canonical life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels.
Religious groups came out in droves to protest the film, with many theaters refusing to screen it and some countries banning it entirely. Though some called the film blasphemous, others embraced it as a tender, earnest portrayal of the humanity of Christ.
Martin Scorsese followed the film decades later with Silence, a harrowing tale of Jesuit missionaries risking their lives to spread the Gospel in Japan. That film is an agonizing and powerful meditation on faith that largely avoided controversy but struggled to find an audience.
The announcement of Scorsese’s next religious film came just one week after the director premiered his latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The latest epic from Martin Scorsese opened to rave reviews, despite its intimidating three hours and 26 minutes run time – a mark nearly identical to that of Scorsese’s 2019 film The Irishman.
Killers of the Flower Moon stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro in a 1920s murder mystery. Based on true events, the film follows the disappearance of a group of Osage tribe members in Oklahoma. The case opens up a devastating look at racial inequality and sparks the creation of the FBI.
The Martin Scorsese crime epic will not hit American theaters until October. In the meantime, the director will continue his tour through Italy, hosting screenings of his films and giving interviews along the way.
Martin Scorsese has made disruptive comments on and off the silver screen, but his body of work speaks for itself. He is one of the greatest American filmmakers, and he continues to make meaningful contributions to the culture with his movies. However he delivers his next film about Jesus, it is sure to be a cinematic blessing.
