The Martin Scorsese movie Paul Schrader wanted to steal for himself
There was a period when Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese weren’t just rubbing shoulders; they were practically joined at the hip. Together, the longtime friends and collaborators are responsible for bringing us classics such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Bringing Out the Dead. Some might argue their decade-spanning partnership is just as famed as the films themselves. So what’s a brotherly bond without a bit of healthy competition and theft?
In 2017, Schrader admitted to Filmmaker Magazine that he’d attempted to steal the script to what would become Scorsese’s 2016 thriller Silence. The attempted robbery occurred 20 to 30 years ago, though Schrader was obviously unsuccessful. The director also opened up about Scorsese’s struggles adapting the acclaimed 1966 novel by Shūsaku Endō: “I think he had a very big problem with that film setting it in the past because the premise under which that book was written no longer applies.”
Scorsese’s not the only one who came into strife reworking Silence for the silver screen. Previously, Japanese director Masahiro Shinoda had attempted to adapt the novel with his 1971 film Chinmoku, but Endō apparently loathed the ending.
Set in the 17th century, Silence follows two young Portuguese Catholic priests who embark on a trip to Japan to aid persecuted Christians, including their former mentor, who they learn has renounced his faith. Starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Ciarán Hinds, Scorsese had to tweak the plot as it operated on the “premise that the missionary effort was inherently a positive one,” explained Schrader. “We used to believe that 50 years ago; no one believes that anymore. Now everyone thinks of the missionaries as the spearhead of colonialism,” he says.
He added: “So the book was predicated on the fact that the missionary effort was a positive one, and not even Marty believes that anymore. So he ends up making a film where Kundun and Last Temptation of Christ have a debate, and no one wins.” In fact, Scorsese first interacted with the source material for Silence after The Last Temptation of Christ, lambasted by the Catholic Church upon its release.
It’s easy to see how this logline would appeal to both Schrader and Scorsese. The directors each have a demonstrated fascination with faith. Before Schrader began writing scripts and directing hits like American Gigolo and The Card Counter, he cut his teeth as a film critic and published a book in 1972 on the link between spirituality and film entitled Transcendental Style in Film. The book was later reissued in 2018. For Schrader, it was only a matter of time before he explored this connection in a film of his own. That movie was First Reformed, the 2018 title produced by A24 and starring Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried.
While Silence tackles the old gods, probing the binaries of Christianity and Buddhism, coloniser and resistance, it refuses to provide comfort in picking a side. First Reformed, on the other hand, is concerned with a modern and more familiar crisis of faith: purpose in the face of climate change.
“You start talking about what is the purpose of life, what is the purpose of humanity, what does it mean to be human, what does it mean to have consciousness? If you stand on your tiptoes and look, you can start to see the end of that conversation,” Schrader concludes. “Therefore, it’s a very exciting time to be alive and a frightening one as well.”
