Silence (2016 film)

Silence
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Barbara De Fina Randall Emmett Vittorio Cecchi Gori Emma Tillinger Koskoff Gaston Pavlovich Martin Scorsese Irwin Winkler
Screenplay by	Jay Cocks Martin Scorsese
Based on	Silence by Shūsaku Endō
Starring	Andrew Garfield Adam Driver Tadanobu Asano Ciarán Hinds Liam Neeson
Music by	Kim Allen Kluge Kathryn Kluge
Cinematography	Rodrigo Prieto
Edited by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Production company	Sharpsword Films, AI Film, Catchplay, IM Global, Verti Productions, YLK Sikella, Fabrica de Cine
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	November 29, 2016 (2016-11-29) (Vatican City) December 23, 2016 (2016-12-23) (United States)
Running time	159 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English, Japanese
Budget	$50 million[2]

Silence is a 2016 American historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks and Scorsese, based upon the 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō. The film was shot entirely in Taipei, Taiwan and stars Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano and Ciarán Hinds.^[3] The film premiered in Vatican City on November 29, 2016 and will be released in the United States on December 23, 2016.

Premise

In the seventeenth century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor (Liam Neeson) who had committed apostasy after being tortured. The story takes place in the time of Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians") that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–38) of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Tokugawa shogunate.

Cast

• Andrew Garfield as Sebastião Rodrigues^[4]
• Adam Driver as Francisco Garrpe^[5]
• Liam Neeson as Father Cristóvão Ferreira^[6]
• Tadanobu Asano as an interpreter for the priests^[7]
• Ciarán Hinds as Father Valignano^[8]
• Shinya Tsukamoto as Mokichi^[9]
• Yōsuke Kubozuka as Kichijiro^[10]
• Issey Ogata as Inoue Masashige^[11]
• Nana Komatsu^[12]

Production

Development

This film marks the second adaptation of Shūsaku Endō's novel, which was previously adapted by Masahiro Shinoda into a 1971 film of the same name.

The film is considered a "passion project" of Scorsese's and has been in development since 1990. When asked why he retained interest in the project for over 20 years, Scorsese stated: "As you get older, ideas go and come. Questions, answers, loss of the answer again and more questions, and this is what really interests me. Yes, the cinema and the people in my life and my family are most important, but ultimately as you get older, there's got to be more. Much, much more. The very nature of secularism right now is really fascinating to me, but at the same time do you wipe away what could be more enriching in your life, which is an appreciation or some sort of search for that which is spiritual and transcends? That's one of the reasons why I made the George Harrison documentary. Silence is just something that I'm drawn to in that way. It's been an obsession, it has to be done... it's a strong, wonderful true story, a thriller in a way, but it deals with those questions."^[13]

In 2009, the production had begun to coalesce, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio del Toro, and Gael García Bernal in negotiations to star.^[14] However, Silence entered a state of hiatus soon afterwards, with Scorsese deciding to work on Shutter Island and Hugo instead. In 2010, del Toro partially distanced himself from the project during promotion for The Wolfman, stating, "It would be a dream to work with Scorsese. Silence, the film we were going to do, has been pushed back but that's definitely something that I'm really looking forward to."^[15]

In December 2011, Scorsese stated that Silence would be his next film. He also cast uncertainty on the involvements of Day-Lewis, del Toro, and Bernal.^[16] In January 2012, Scorsese discussed the possibility of utilizing 3D for both Silence and a Frank Sinatra biopic he was developing.^[17]

In March, though he had originally put it on the back burner and consequently dropped out, Scorsese signed back on to The Wolf of Wall Street and opted to direct it ahead of Silence.^[18] However, at the time, Scorsese's publicist stated that Silence would come first.^[19]

In May, the film picked up another producer in the recently revived Cecchi Gori Pictures, which placed the project first on its slate of upcoming films. Cecchi Gori was involved in pre-production for Silence, but years of unrelated legal disputes had interrupted its association to the film.^[20]

In August 2012, Cecchi Gori Pictures sued Scorsese over an alleged breach of contract agreements related to Silence. According to the company, in 1990 Scorsese signed a written agreement to direct Silence. Scorsese was originally supposed to shoot the film following 1997's Kundun, and Cecchi Gori Pictures had apparently invested more than $750,000 for this purpose.^[21] However, Scorsese chose to make Bringing Out the Dead, Gangs of New York, and The Aviator first.^[22] Then, in 2004, Scorsese purportedly signed deals to postpone the film further, in order to direct The Departed and Shutter Island. In 2011, Scorsese ostensibly agreed to one more deal, delaying Silence to direct Hugo. Cecchi Gori Pictures asserted that Scorsese agreed to pay, "substantial compensation and other valuable benefits" to direct The Departed, Shutter Island, and Hugo. The company said the fees were, "$1 million to $1.5 million per film plus up to 20 percent of Scorsese's backend compensation." The complaint was centered around the company's allegations that Scorsese failed to pay the fees agreed upon for Hugo, and that he breached the contract's terms by filming The Wolf of Wall Street ahead of Silence. Scorsese, via his representatives, responded, "The claims asserted are completely contradicted by, inconsistent with, and contrary to the express terms of an agreement entered into by the parties last year." He also denounced the lawsuit as a "media stunt" and a "meritless action."^[23] The lawsuit was settled on January 17, 2014. The terms of the settlement were undisclosed.^[21]

On April 19, 2013, it was announced that Scorsese would begin production on Silence in 2014, after a reputed 23-year wait. Irwin Winkler was announced as a producer the same day, as were Randall Emmett and George Furla, who would also finance the production through their company Emmett/Furla Films. Paul Breuls' Corsan Films was also reportedly funding the project.^[13] Additionally, it was announced that the film would be shot in Taiwan.^[24]

By February 2014, Scorsese had begun scouting locations in Taiwan,^[25] with filming set for the summer.^[26] Producer Irwin Winkler stated the choice to film in Taiwan was due to lower costs. "[The movie] was very, very expensive, and it was budgeted, because it takes place in 1670 in Japan. We got lucky and found out about Taipei, and in and around Taipei and Taiwan, we found great, great locations. The prices were very cheap, and we were able to make it for a price." Winkler also disclosed that the tight budget forced many of the cast and crew, including himself, to work for minimum pay: "And all the actors, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, everybody worked for scale. Marty worked for scale, I worked for under scale. We gave back money."^[27]

Casting

In May 2013, Andrew Garfield and Ken Watanabe joined the cast.^[28] Garfield was cast as Father Rodrigues, one of the Jesuit priests, and Watanabe as the priests' translator.^[29] In January 2014, Adam Driver and Liam Neeson joined the film, with Driver as Father Francisco Garrpe, the second Jesuit priest, and Neeson as the priests' mentor, Father Cristóvão Ferreira.^[30][31] In January 2015, Watanabe left the project due to schedule issues and was replaced by Tadanobu Asano.^[32]

Filming

Principal photography took place in Taiwan from January 30 to May 15, 2015.^[3][33]

On January 28, 2015, the production experienced an accident at Taiwan's CMPC Studios. According to a spokesperson for the film, "An existing structure on the CMPC backlot had been deemed unsafe by the production, and accordingly a 3rd-party contractor was hired to reinforce and make it safe prior to any production-related work commencing in this building. During this process, the ceiling collapsed, resulting in the death of one of the contractor's employees and injuries to two others."^[34]

Release

Scorsese brokered several distribution deals when he attended the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.^[35] In July 2014, Paramount Pictures acquired distribution rights for the United States and eyed a late 2015 release.^[36] Discussing the film in March 2016, Winkler revealed the film was in the editing process and that the film would release "at the end of the year," confirming a 2016 release date.^[27] In August 2016, Scorsese stated the film would be completed in October, and the 2016 release of the film depended on Paramount.^[37][38] The film is scheduled for a limited release on December 23, 2016, before expanding in January 2017.^[39] The world premiere was at the Vatican on November 29.^[40]

Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for the film on November 22, 2016.^[41]

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website
• Silence at the Internet Movie Database
• Silence at FilmAffinity