Martin Scorsese to direct 80-minute film about the life of Jesus
Martin Scorsese has revealed that he intends to shoot a new film in 2024, based on the 1973 Shūsaku Endō book A Life of Jesus.
The legendary director, whose latest film Killers Of The Flower Moon is among the leading Oscars contenders this year, has said that he wants to adapt the book in a way that explores Jesus’ teachings without proselytising.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Scorsese suggested that the film will be roughly 80 minutes in length, in stark contrast to both Killers Of The Flower Moon and his previous film The Irishman, which both clock in at well over three hours.
Scorsese has previously adapted the work of Endō before, in the form of 2016’s Silence, starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.
Speaking about the reason for picking A Life Of Jesus, Scorsese said: “I’m trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative onus of what has been associated with organised religion.”
He added: “Right now, ‘religion,’ you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it’s failed in so many ways. But that doesn’t mean necessarily that the initial impulse was wrong. Let’s get back. Let’s just think about it. You may reject it. But it might make a difference in how you live your life – even in rejecting it. Don’t dismiss it offhand. That’s all I’m talking about. And I’m saying that as a person who’s going to be 81 in a couple of days.”
It is reported that Scorsese intends to shoot the film later in 2024, having already completed the script alongside fellow film-maker Kent Jones.
It was recently announced that Killers Of The Flower Moon will be available to stream globally on Apple TV+ from this Friday (January 12).
Led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and the Golden Globe-winning Lily Gladstone, the film is based on the non-fiction book of the same name published in 2017. It tells the true story a series of murders of Osage Native Americans over the rights for the oil under their land in Oklahoma.
Since premiering at Cannes Film Festival last May, the drama has been positively received by critics and audiences alike, and currently holds a score of 92 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
NME gave Killers Of The Flower Moon a glowing five-star review, writing: “These days, Scorsese seems to exclusively make long films but this 206-minute epic is lengthy even by his standards. Thankfully Killers Of The Flower Moon earns its runtime.”
“Each conversation between De Niro and DiCaprio is an exercise in clever euphemism and while some may find the tempo a bit too stately, the story of an entire people’s eradication deserves to be told in full. This is among Scorsese’s most important work.”
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Max Pilley
NME
