“Right now, ‘religion’ — you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways,” he added. “But that doesn’t mean necessarily that the initial impulse was wrong. Let’s get back. Let’s just think about it.”
In an effort to not “be locked into a certain period,” the film will take place in present day because the director wants “the film to feel timeless,” he explained.
The inspiration for the film came in May 2023 after Scorsese met Pope Francis at the Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination, a conference that brought together artists and creatives from across the world. After this meeting, Scorsese said, “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.”
Catholicism and religious themes have played a role in some of Scorsese’s previous works such as “Silence” and the controversial 1988 film “The Last Temptation of Christ.”
Scorsese was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic high school before attending a preparatory seminary for one year.
In an interview with La Civilta Cattolica on Dec. 9, 2016, he told Jesuit priest Father Antonio Spardo: “When I was younger, I was thinking of making a film about being a priest. I myself wanted to follow in Father Principe’s [his parish priest] footsteps, so to speak, and be a priest. I went to a preparatory seminary but I failed out the first year.”
Credit: Source link
