Director Martin Scorsese is known for his organized crime-related masterpieces, but his next film will revolve heavily around religion.
"Silence," which stars Lieam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, is about a pair of Jesuit priests who go to Japan in hopes of spreading the word of Christianity. It is adapted from Shusaku Endo's book of the same name. Scorsese said his own experiences with faith and the Catholic church had a strong influence on the final product.
"The subject matter presented by Shusaku Endo was in my life since I was very very young. I was very much involved in religion, I was raised in a strong Catholic family," he said during a press conference in Taiwan, where the movie was filmed, this week. "Further reflection is how (we) want to lead our life in the Christian faith... so ultimately this book drew my attention when it was given to me in 1988."
Scorsese also raved about being able to shoot the project in Taiwan, which is a slowly growing trend among filmakers. In recent years, Ang Lee and Luc Besson also filmed there.
"Seems like a dream, I don't know how long I have been in Taipei, five or six months, it's a beautiful place, extraordinary," Scorsese said.
"Silence" is set to hit theaters in 2016.
