Spare a thought for Andrew Garfield. When he’s not charging headfirst onto the war-torn beaches of Okinawa, the actor spent much of 2016 traversing the hills of Japan in search of Liam Neeson’s wayward priest – a priest accused of abandoning his Christian faith, no less. Such an endeavour has not gone unnoticed, with the results being two bona fide Oscar contenders in the form of Hacksaw Ridge and Martin Scorsese’s Silence, the grand religious opus 30 years in the making.
Set for an awards-qualifying limited release this Friday, December 23 in the States, Silence is rooted in the 17th century, where two Jesuit missionaries (Garfield and Driver) plot course for feudal Japan in an attempt to locate their missing mentor (Neeson). Together they face a perilous journey, one that looks set to push their faith to the absolute brink, judging by the film’s sombre first trailer.
Thanks to Empire, we now have a better look at that painstaking pilgrimage, not to mention the supporting cast Martin Scorsese has assembled, one headed up by Tadanobu Asano (Thor) and Yosuke Kubozuka. In addition, you’ll also glimpse a handful of behind the scenes pics of Scorsese himself orchestrating the drama from behind the lens.
Expect Silence to grace a select handful of US theatres on December 23, before expanding on January 1. Elsewhere on the Scorsese news cycle, the esteemed filmmaker confirmed recently that his gestating adaptation of The Devil in the White City is still being worked on, and will signal his sixth collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio.