For years, Martin Scorsese has been working on bringing Japanese novelist Sh?saku End?’s 1966 novel, Silence (?? / Chinmoku) to the big screen, and now it’s finally coming together.
Andrew Garfield and Ken Watanabe joined the cast in the leading roles last year, and now Showbiz 411 reports that Adam Driver has boarded the cast as well.
Scorsese revealed the casting news at HBO’s post-Golden Globes party last night, confirming that production is still on track to begin this summer.
Courtesy of Amazon, here’s the synopsis for the original novel:
Silence is the most important novel of the acclaimed Japanese author Sh?saku End?.
A Japanese Catholic, Endo tells the story of two seventeenth-century missionaries attempting to shore up the oppressed Japanese Christian movement. Father Rodrigues has come to Japan to find the truth behind unthinkable rumours that his famous teacher Ferreira has renounced his faith. But after his arrival he discovers that the only way to help the brutally persecuted Christians may be to apostatize himself.
The renowned filmmaker is of course coming off the back of the very successful The Wolf of Wall Street, which has been picking up awards and nominations across the board. Leonardo DiCaprio took home the Best Actor award in the Musical or Comedy category at last night’s Golden Globes, and we’re all looking forward to seeing the kind of recognition the Academy gives Scorsese’s latest when the Oscar nominations are announced this week.
Driver was last seen in Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha and the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, and is of course well known for his work on HBO’s acclaimed series, Girls. Alongside Silence, his upcoming slate is incredibly impressive, with roles in Shawn Levy’s This Is Where I Leave You, Saverio Costanzo’s Hungry Hearts, Michael Dowse’s The F Word, and John Curran’s Tracks all expected before the end of the year, as well as reuniting with Noah Baumbach for his anticipated While We’re Young, expected to land sometime next year.
The young actor has been very much on the rise in recent years, and is clearly continuing on that ascending path for the foreseeable future. Landing a role alongside Garfield and Watanabe for Scorsese’s next feature is another great sign that we’ve got a lot to look forward to from him for the years to come.
