Development In an interview with
America Magazine in December 2016, Scorsese stated that he first read
Shūsaku Endō's novel
Silence in 1989, when he was invited by
Akira Kurosawa to Japan to play the part of
Vincent van Gogh in Kurosawa's film
Dreams (1990). Scorsese obtained the film rights soon afterwards. in 2010. He first read the Endō novel while acting in the role of
Vincent van Gogh painting
Wheatfield with Crows for
Akira Kurosawa's film
Dreams. Scorsese considered
Silence a "passion project": it had been in development since 1990, two years after the release of his film
The Last Temptation of Christ, which also carried strongly religious themes. When asked why he retained interest in the project for over 26 years, Scorsese said:As you get older, ideas go and come. Questions, answers, loss of the answer again and more questions, and this is what really interests me. Yes, the cinema and the people in my life and my family are most important, but ultimately as you get older, there's got to be more ...
Silence is just something that I'm drawn to in that way. It's been an obsession, it has to be done ... it's a strong, wonderful true story, a thriller in a way, but it deals with those questions.In 2009, with the production beginning to coalesce, Scorsese and a production crew went to
Nagasaki, Japan, visiting the original sites that served as the setting for Endō's novel. Additional location scouting was conducted in Canada. However,
Silence entered a state of
development hell soon afterwards, and Scorsese decided to work on
Shutter Island and
Hugo instead. In December 2011, Scorsese stated that
Silence would be his next film. By March, although he originally put it on the back burner and consequently dropped out, Scorsese signed back on to
The Wolf of Wall Street and opted to direct it ahead of
Silence. However, at the time, Scorsese's publicist stated that
Silence would come first. In May, the film picked up another producer in the recently revived Cecchi Gori Pictures, which placed the project first on its slate of upcoming films. Cecchi Gori was involved in pre-production for
Silence, but years of unrelated legal disputes had interrupted its association to the film. After filming of
The Wolf of Wall Street concluded in January 2013, Scorsese committed to following it up with
Silence. Producer Irwin Winkler stated the choice to film in Taiwan was due to lower costs. "[The movie] was very, very expensive, and it was budgeted, because it takes place in 1670 in Japan. We got lucky and found out about
Taipei, and in and around Taipei and Taiwan, we found great, great locations. The prices were very cheap, and we were able to make it for a price." Winkler disclosed that the tight budget forced many of the cast and crew, including himself, to work for minimum pay: "And all the actors, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, everybody worked for scale. Marty worked for scale, I worked for under scale. We gave back money."
James Martin, a Jesuit priest and published Catholic scholar, as well as Catholic scholar Liam Brockey, worked closely with the filmmakers to ensure an accurate portrayal of the Jesuits.
Legal claims Scorsese's complex filmmaking commitments to multiple film projects resulted in an early legal challenge before filming of
Silence could be initiated. In August 2012, Cecchi Gori Pictures sued Scorsese over an alleged breach of contract agreements related to
Silence. According to the company, in 1990 Scorsese signed a written agreement to direct
Silence. Scorsese was supposed to shoot the film following 1997's
Kundun, and Cecchi Gori Pictures had apparently invested more than $750,000 for this purpose. However, Scorsese chose to make
Bringing Out the Dead,
Gangs of New York and
The Aviator first. In 2004, Scorsese purportedly signed deals to postpone the film further, in order to direct
The Departed and
Shutter Island. In 2011, Scorsese ostensibly agreed to one more deal, delaying
Silence to direct
Hugo. Cecchi Gori Pictures asserted that Scorsese agreed to pay "substantial compensation and other valuable benefits" in order to first direct
The Departed,
Shutter Island and
Hugo. The company said the fees were "$1 million to $1.5 million per film plus up to 20 percent of Scorsese's backend compensation". The complaint was founded on the company's allegation that Scorsese failed to pay the fees agreed upon for
Hugo, and that he breached the contract's terms by filming
The Wolf of Wall Street ahead of
Silence. Scorsese, via his representatives, responded: "The claims asserted are completely contradicted by, inconsistent with, and contrary to the express terms of an agreement entered into by the parties last year." He also denounced the lawsuit as a "media stunt" and a "meritless action". The lawsuit was settled on January 17, 2014. The terms of the settlement are sealed. The screenplay as finally filmed was assessed in critical review as an accurate depiction of the novel as written by Endō.
Casting Beginning in 2009 and into 2010,
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Benicio del Toro and
Gael García Bernal were in negotiations to star. In May 2013,
Andrew Garfield and
Ken Watanabe joined the cast with Watanabe as the priests' translator. However, due to scheduling conflicts, Watanabe was replaced by
Tadanobu Asano in January 2015. In January 2014,
Adam Driver and
Liam Neeson joined the film, with Driver as Francisco Garupe, the second Jesuit priest, and Neeson as the priests' mentor, Cristóvão Ferreira. Having completed the
Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola for playing a
Jesuit in the movie, Andrew Garfield said: "What was really easy was falling in love with this person, was falling in love with
Jesus Christ. That was the most surprising thing."
Filming , a frequent collaborator on Scorsese films for over forty years, was the editor for
Silence. In January 2012, Scorsese discussed the possibility of utilizing
3D, however reconsidered. By February 2014, Scorsese had begun scouting locations in Taiwan, with filming set for the summer, and eventually pushed back to early 2015. Principal photography took place in Taiwan from January 30 to May 15, 2015, using studios in
Taipei and
Taichung and locations in
Hualien County. On January 28, 2015, the production experienced an accident at Taiwan's CMPC Studios. According to a spokesperson for the film, a tragic incident occurred in one of the backlots of the production when a ceiling collapsed, which resulted in the death of one contracted employee and the injury of two others. Scorsese and cinematographer
Rodrigo Prieto drew inspiration from painters from the Baroque period when determining the color palettes of the film, using blue and cyan tones at the beginning and later a golden-yellow hue, which in Prieto's opinion, gave the film a sense of progression in color. While Prieto shot the landscapes and the actors using film stock, he resorted to digital when it came to the night scenes. Prieto found some difficulties when shooting the film. With the weather constantly changing, he would have inconsistencies in terms of lighting that he solved by filming some sequences at night time that would be lit for either dusk or sunset. To simulate moonlight for many of the night scenes, Prieto used a rig of blue-green lights called the "UFO" and hung them on a crane.
Music The music for the film was composed by Kim Allen Kluge, the former music director at
Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and Kathryn Kluge. Much of the soundtrack includes ambient nocturnal and ocean sounds repeated over several of the tracks. A 51-minute soundtrack of 25 tracks was released on February 17, 2017, by the recording studio for
Rhino Warner Classics under ASIN release number B01N7S3IB9. An extended track of 12 minutes titled "Meditation" is included as the leading track on the soundtrack release. == Release ==