Martin Scorsese gave an update on his upcoming movie based on the life of Jesus, teasing that he still hasn't figured out how to do it.
“I'm thinking about it right now,” Scorsese said during a press conference appearance at the Berlin Film Festival (via Deadline). “What kind of film I'm not sure, but I want to do something unique and different that could be thought-provoking and hopefully entertaining. I'm still not sure how to do it.”
The legendary director went on to say that he would probably start working on the film once the promotion and awards season is over.
“Maybe I'll sleep a little and then wake up and have a new idea of how to do it,” Scorsese said. “The possibilities of making a film, the concept of Jesus, the idea of Jesus really comes from my background growing up on the Lower East Side, my interest in Catholicism, in the priesthood, which really led I think ultimately to the film Silence . »
The film will not be the “usual, straight telling” of Jesus' life
Earlier this year, Scorsese said his film would not be a “conventional, straight narrative” version of the life of Jesus, saying that some of it would be based on Shūsaku Endō's book A Life of Jesus, which deals with the figure Jesus and how it relates to people's lives today.
“But it wasn't going to be an ordinary, straight-forward account of the life of Jesus by any means,” Scorsese said. “It would be something that makes us think of Jesus in the present. And in a different way. Some of this would be based on what Shūsaku Endō wrote in his book A Life of Jesus. I thought it was very interesting how he does it from an Asian perspective to make us see Jesus in a different way and how it relates to our lives now. And how it will always be something at the center of our lives.”
Scorsese, who already made The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, announced that he would make a new film about Jesus Christ in May 2023 after he and his wife Ellen Morris met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In October 2023, Scorsese also confirmed this Sight and Sound that the film would not have a simple narrative.
