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Martin Scorsese’s Silence Is The 2016 Christmas Movie

Silence by Martin Scorsese

What we know about Martin Scorsese’s Silence, the movie he’s been wanting to do for 30 years.

Silence is about a Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, who head out to find Father Cristóvão Ferreira who went missing after renouncing his faith under torture. It is scheduled to be released on December 23, two days ahead of Christmas, and stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.

It is based on the 1966 novel of the same title, written by Japanese author Shusaku Endo, and has been a movie Scorsese wanted to make since he first read it in 1989. He didn’t hesitate to buy all the filming rights, and has spoken about it to almost everyone he has known since.

It is a grim and dark story, where the two fathers face persecution and torture as they travel to Japan to locate their mentor, played by Liam Neeson.

To play the part of Father Francisco Garrpe, Driver lose 51 pounds within four and a half month, with the help of a nutrition coach. But the real preparation both him and Garfield received were much more intense than a strict diet. The two spent nearly a year exploring the Jesuit faith with help of Jesuit Rev. James Martin. They even spent a whole week at a silent retreat at St. Beuno’s, a Jesuit house in Wales.

It is already predicted that the movie will be an Oscar contender for next year, and is the longest movie by Scorsese to date. Silence has a running time of 195 minutes, or three hours and 15 minutes. His latest movie, The Wolf of Wall Street was just short of three hours.

The movie was shot in Taiwan of a period of eight months, and with a production budget of $51 million.

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