CONVERSATIONS ON FAITH

One of America’s greatest directors discusses his faith.

Few directors since Robert Bresson and Ingmar Bergman have made as many films that grapple with questions of faith as Martin Scorsese. In many of his movies, he has explored the topics of grace and redemption and the ethical quandaries faced by conflicted protagonists. Beginning in 2016, Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit priest, paid many visits to New York to talk with Scorsese about faith, a common thread “that accompanies me through the maze of life and explores a lifelong preoccupation of Martin’s that is present in all of his work.” Over these seven conversations, they discuss everything from Scorsese’s asthma-plagued childhood in Queens and Little Italy, where he found comfort in the nearby Catholic school “because the streets were so rough” and where a 23-year-old priest who loved cinema was such a positive influence on the young Scorsese that he briefly considered entering the clergy, to his legendary directing career. These wide-ranging chats cover many topics, including the reason Scorsese incorporates violence into almost every film—“We have to face it in order to understand that it’s within our human nature”—and his appreciation for directors like the Dardenne brothers, who “don’t look away from ugliness or the tough aspects of life around them, but the possibility of redemption is always there for their characters.” Most of this book is devoted to The Last Temptation of Christ and Silence, the Scorsese films that most overtly address questions of faith. It’s all fascinating stuff for cinephiles, especially those interested in the intersection of motion pictures and spirituality. Along the way, Scorsese offers insights into the realities of filmmaking, as when he says he had to shoot Silence in Taiwan because it was cheaper than Japan, where the story is set, and had to contend with “earthquakes, typhoons, and the Taiwanese cobra—apparently, they were in season, which people kept from me.”

Keen observations on faith from a cinema maestro.