The Cast And Crew Talk About The Film

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blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/interview-99-homes-star-andrew-garfield-talks-the-cost-of-success-martin-scorseses-silence-spider-man-more-20150921?page=2

You must have found some common ground ideal-wise working on “Silence,” then.
Yeah, “Silence” was five months of asking, "Is there a God?" And swimming around in that question. What is a spiritual life? Is it worship of a higher being, or is it seeing the higher being in everyone else? Respecting, as in "re-spect" — looking again, looking closer, and seeing the divine in every man and woman. Name it what you will — God, higher power, spirit, nature, cosmos. It was five months of that.

Did you find an answer?
[Laughs] Fuck no! I found some ideas, and in my bones I reacted to some things.

Like what?
I think that the story holds some truth, and in the experience of attempting to live it I found that spirit is always communicating, it's how we react to it. We just have to be awake somehow. And that's the work of a spiritual life, as far as I can tell. I don't know how to do it, but I'm searching always for connection to my deepest self, not exiling any part of myself, saying "I need the damaged bits, I need the hurt bits, I need the joyful and charismatic and stupid bits." I need all of me so that I can love everything else.

From his answers it looks to me that they are aiming to the religious crowd. I understand that. They want the movie to be profitable.

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www.yahoo.com/movies/andrew-garfield-opens-up-about-99-homes-donald-170313062.html

On Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming drama Silence, in which Garfield plays a priest.
It’s based on the Japanese book [of the same name] by Shūsaku Endō. My god — no pun intended [laughs]. Marty’s been wandering around this material for 15, 20 years. It’s pretty endless. That’s the beauty of working on a great piece of literature, which this is. It’s the same thing with [my 2010 film based on a novel] Never Let Me Go or something that Aaron [Sorkin] would write. You’re never going to crack it. It’s the same thing with Shakespeare — you’re never going to figure it out. There’s always more to understand with these great artists who are writing these great masterworks.

On his spiritual guide for the film.
I had a year preparing, just swimming around in Jesuit culture and asking the question: What is it to live a life of faith? What is it to live a priest’s life? And why, how, and could I? The majority of my time spent in that year before we went and shot it was with a wonderful Jesuit priest named Father James Martin. I’m seeing him today actually while I’m in New York. He’s become a mentor and wonderful figure in my life. He became my spiritual director, really. He’s a writer and he’s just this beautiful man who lives this incredible life of generosity and humility. The majority of my work was with him and we ended up creating a very deep bond. It was a beautiful world to steep myself in. I’m very sad that it is over. I wish there was a trilogy of Silence so I could keep doing it because it’s such a rich story.

On working with the Oscar-winning director for the first time.
There’s too much to say, really. Whatever I say here is going to minimize. The most important thing to me is that [Scorsese] wanted to make this film for so long, it’s such a part of him. Before he became a filmmaker he wanted to be a priest. He was going to join the seminary as a teenager — that was one of his first callings. This is profoundly important to him. This story has been ruminating in his soul for so long. Just being on the journey with him was enough, really. That was everything. Just being able to stand there with him each day and try to live out his vision for this film was — it felt like I was in service of something much greater. That was awesome — not in the modern sense of the word but the literal one — awesome, full of awe.

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Andrew Garfield Describes the “Pure Bliss” of Working With Martin Scorsese
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/09/andrew-garfield-interview-99-homes-martin-scorsese

Last year I was in training to be a Jesuit priest. It was absolutely wonderful and fascinating. It’s one of the many gifts of this job.

That Jesuit priest film is Martin Scorsese’s Silence, about Jesuits in 17th-century Japan. What was that shooting experience like? Were you actually in Japan?

We shot in Taiwan, doubling as Japan. It’s so hard to sum up. It was epic and small, simultaneously. It’s a very internal journey through this external wilderness. But it’s mostly internal, mostly an inside conversation, a conversation with God.

What about the Scorsese factor? Was there any fear in starting the project, knowing he’d be right there, on set?

Well, I’m always afraid. I mean, I’m afraid right now. It was such a big buildup, we were delayed again and again and again. So I was out in Taiwan for three or four weeks, just twiddling my thumbs, getting ready to go and being delayed and waiting to know if we were going to shoot. So all the energy was building up to a kind of fever pitch. When finally we were off, I think I had enough steam and fire built up to last me the whole four months, just to shoot it in one take. It was incredible, when we finally got going. And being on set with him is . . . you know, you’re working with a master. And he surrounds himself with masters.

It was just kind of pure bliss, really, to work with these brilliant artists. As the actor, the dream is to be surrounded by people who you feel are a safety net, wherein you can play and find the truth of the moment instead of feeling like you have to do everything else, or you have to make sure you nail it or otherwise they’ll use the wrong take, blah, blah, blah. But with Marty, and with [his longtime editor] Thelma Schoonmaker, you know that their choices are going to be much better than yours. So that’s the dream, really.

Garfield`s promotion for Silence is at full speed. I`m sensing a late 2015 release...Hopefully...

[Sam]

Sept 23, 2015 11:58:47 GMT -5 nas78 said:

blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/interview-99-homes-star-andrew-garfield-talks-the-cost-of-success-martin-scorseses-silence-spider-man-more-20150921?page=2

You must have found some common ground ideal-wise working on “Silence,” then.
Yeah, “Silence” was five months of asking, "Is there a God?" And swimming around in that question. What is a spiritual life? Is it worship of a higher being, or is it seeing the higher being in everyone else? Respecting, as in "re-spect" — looking again, looking closer, and seeing the divine in every man and woman. Name it what you will — God, higher power, spirit, nature, cosmos. It was five months of that.

Did you find an answer?
[Laughs] Fuck no! I found some ideas, and in my bones I reacted to some things.

Like what?
I think that the story holds some truth, and in the experience of attempting to live it I found that spirit is always communicating, it's how we react to it. We just have to be awake somehow. And that's the work of a spiritual life, as far as I can tell. I don't know how to do it, but I'm searching always for connection to my deepest self, not exiling any part of myself, saying "I need the damaged bits, I need the hurt bits, I need the joyful and charismatic and stupid bits." I need all of me so that I can love everything else.

From his answers it looks to me that they are aiming to the religious crowd. I understand that. They want the movie to be profitable.

You do know the movie is about Christianity, right?

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variety.com/2016/film/news/nana-komatsu-martin-scorsese-silence-1201771412/

Nana Komatsu Making Herself Seen in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’

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Robbie on facebook: "Working on the next film... Silence."



[Post]

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Adam Driver on Working with Scorsese on ‘Silence’
collider.com/adam-driver-paterson-silence-star-wars-interview/

I definitely want to touch on Scorsese for a second, because you lucky bastard being able to work with him too.

DRIVER: [Laughs] Yeah, right.

Silence is a passion project of his that he’s wanted to make for forever. I heard it’s coming out later this year, and that you finished. Have you seen a rough cut? What the hell was it like working with him?

DRIVER: It was great. Speaking of people who are…With Scorsese for me he was like at the top of the pyramid as far as directors to work with, and, again, you would expect to show up and because he’s accomplished so much and go, “Ok, tell me what to fucking do, I’ll do anything that you want me to do. Tell me where to go.” But regardless there’s also some weird paternal thing [that] I think always happens on films sets for me, where eventually you have to rebel against your director maybe. Not rebel in like you don’t show up or you’re not prepared and you don’t know your lines, but you have to take ownership of your part sometimes. When it’s someone like Scorsese or Jim or Soderbergh, you sometimes have to maybe not do what they say and try something new or different or surprise yourself or them, and that’s actually what they want you to do.

When Scorsese is turning to you like, “What do you think?” he wants you to – He hired you for your ideas, not because he believes in a dictatorship where I’m telling you how to do this. And there are people that do that, it’s very choreographed, and that’s not to say that way is not right, but he just comes from a time of collaboration and talking and figuring out through conversation. And for someone who’s that experienced and that accomplished, to still be interested in embraces, the not knowing what’s gonna happen or still trying to figure it out. He’ wanted to make this for twenty-something years and he’s still showing up on set like, “Ok, what’s gonna happen?” It’s a very rare thing to get to see someone at that point in their career and life still have that collaborative energy, and you’re like, “Ok, I don’t want to work any other way.” It just reaffirms things that you hope that people are like, that it’s not really about one person, it’s about something bigger that not any of us can attach meaning to. I mean, that’s getting very like ambiguo-y and actor-y, but that’s the best way I can describe it.

He’s so great, he’s everything you kind of hope he is and when he affirms it for you then it just makes work really great. But we also had to lose a lot of weight during it, it was all kind of like, “The actors are losing a lot of weight for the part” a lot of it was tempered with that. But it’s hard to do a movie with 17th century Jesuit priests and be well fed and well rested and having like the most ideal shooting conditions. That process I think kind of lent itself for a bit of struggle.

I heard there were some photos that came out with Liam [Neeson] looking very thin and people were like, “Is he having health issues?” No one ever does any research like, “Maybe he’s making a movie.”

DRIVER: [Laughs] No one thinks past five minutes.

Do you have a big part in it?

DRIVER: Yeah, I think. I mean, I haven’t seen the final thing, but yeah.

The rumor is that his original cut was 4 to five hours, and then it was cut down to 3, and now it’s under 3. Do you pay attention to all of that or are you like, “Just show it to me when it’s done.”?

DRIVER: I try not to watch it even when it’s done. We did it, whatever it was when we did it, then he and Thelma Schoonmaker –who’s a fucking genius– will do whatever they do it afterwards, that’s their call and I support it.

It’s funny that you mention these names. I’ve been doing Collider for 11 years and it’s like every time I talk to someone who I’ve loved my entire life like Thelma, I interviewed her for the first time and I lost it. I was such a geek, so excited to talk about like Goodfellas and all these other movies.

DRIVER: Yeah I could listen to her talk about when they were shooting Who’s That Knocking at My Door with Harvey Keitel and she’s like, “And Harvey…” and I’m like, “Of course! You’re a genius, you’re brilliant.”

It’s funny because she talks about different cuts they had, different movies. It’s like oh my God, show me all of them.

DRIVER: I know.

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US director Martin Scorsese, winner of the 28th Praemium Imperiale award, smiles during a joint press conference with other winners in Tokyo on October 17, 2016.

TOKYO, Japan -Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese told an audience in Tokyo Monday his long-awaited film about the persecution of Christians in 17th century Japan will hit the big screen just before Christmas.

Before filming, Scorsese -- who said he has wanted to do the film for over a quarter century -- visited the areas mentioned in the book and interviewed descendants of these so-called hidden Christians.

"What came out of that for me was the extraordinary power and sacrifice, the commitment and conviction of their ancestors who were martyrs to the faith," he said Monday.

"For me this was almost like meeting one of the hidden Christians from the 17th century and it changed my perception of how to deal with those scenes and the characters," he added.

Scorsese is one of five recipients of the Praemium Imperiale this year, which also honours American artist Cindy Sherman, French sculptor Annette Messager, Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer

www.enca.com/life/entertainment/scorsese-film-on-japans-christians-set-for-christmas-release

(Marty in 5:20)

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Dante Ferretti On Doing His First Rock Opera, ‘Divo Nerone,’ and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’
variety.com/2016/film/global/dante-ferretti-talks-about-staging-his-first-rock-opera-divo-nerone-and-martin-scorseses-silence-1201890911/

When you mentioned the 17th century, it brought to mind your work on Martin Scorsese’s “Silence.” Can you tell me what working on that was like?

We went to Taiwan to make the movie, which is set in Japan in 1620. I had prepared [for] this film five times before we actually got to shoot it because [previously] the money never came through. Previously I’d done scouting in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Northern California, Canada. Then we ended up making another movie with Martin [“The Wolf of Wall Street”]. “Silence” is my ninth movie with him. I also did the costumes for this film. Then we went to Taipei where there was a studio with affordable prices and the surrounding area looked like Japan. So we rebuilt a part of [ancient] Nagasaki and some villages and areas of Macao. The coast of Taiwan is quite similar to Japan.

Have you seen “Silence”?

No, I’ve seen footage, but I haven’t been able to see the completed film yet. But I’m going to New York soon and I will ask Martin to show it to me. This is a film that Martin cares so much about; it’s been in gestation for more than 20 years. Those who have seen it tell me it’s really very beautiful.

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Adam Driver talks about working with Scorsese
www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/whats-on/film/paterson-adam-driver-talks-about-killing-off-han-solo-and-working-with-scorsese-1-8251725

“Scorsese’s like the tip of the spear as far as directors go,” buzzes Driver. “He could very much be a dictator on set, and be like, ‘OK, I’ve accomplished so much in my career, this is what we’re going to do, I’ve been thinking about this movie for 28 years, I’ve figured it all out’ - but it’s the exact opposite.

“He knows so much about the subject he’s working on, but he’s willing to throw it all at the window on the day and sacrifice for a better idea, and that humility and collaborative spirit is pretty inspiring to see in someone at his point in life.”

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When Marty Met Shin’ya: How A Revered Japanese Filmmaker Joined The Cattle Call For A Role in ‘Silence’

“I didn’t know who he was, but he had a beautiful face, perfect for the role,” said Ellen Lewis, who spoke by telephone on Wednesday of what might have been her best call as casting director for Martin Scorsese’s Silence.

Lewis, who has worked repeatedly with Scorsese since casting his portion of the New York Stories anthology in 1989, was referring to the Japanese cult filmmaker Shin’ya Tsukamoto. Seven years ago, when Lewis was rounding up actors for the long-planned Silence on spec, Tsukamoto—a sometime performer who is better known as the director of idiosyncratic masterpieces like his Tetsuo series—did something that few accomplished movie makers would dare. He simply showed up, like any workaday actor, to be considered for a role in Scorsese’s film about the travails of Jesuits and native Christians in 17th Century Japan.

Shinya Tsukamoto plays Mokichi in the film SILENCE by Paramount Pictures, SharpSword Films, and AI Films by Paramount Pictures, SharpSword Films, and AI Films

Lewis said she instantly saw him as Mokichi, a leader of hidden Christians in a Japanese village. “He’s so beautiful in the movie, he’s incredibly moving,” Lewis said of a performance that will be on display in Los Angeles on Sunday, when Paramount Pictures screens Silence at a Film Foundation benefit in the Westwood district.

But Tsukamoto, as far as Lewis knew, was just another actor when she pushed him on Scorsese during a meeting at a Tokyo hotel shortly after that first casting session. “Suddenly, he’s bowing to Marty, and Marty’s bowing to him,” as the two recognized each other as mutually admiring peers, said Lewis.

“What are you talking about? The great director is coming to an audition?” Scorsese now recalls thinking, according to some just-compiled production notes for Silence.

For his part, Tsukamoto said it was an honor to be considered. “I would have been an extra for Mr. Scorsese,” he said, as described in those same notes.

deadline.com/2016/12/how-revered-japanese-filmmaker-tsukamoto-joined-cattle-call-for-scorsese-silence-1201862436/

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