‘Silence’ Delivers First Official Look at Andrew Garfield in Martin Scorsese’s New Film

Silence has been a passion project for Martin Scorsese for many years, ever since he first read the Shûsaku Endô novel on which the film is based. Production on the film recently wrapped in Taiwan, and thanks to EW, we now have our first official still from Silence, starring Andrew Garfield and Shinya Tsukamoto. Garfield portrays a Jesuit priest in the spiritual drama, and the first sneak peek at the movie definitely looks a bit dramatic.

At a recent press conference, Scorsese revealed (via EW) that he’s been trying to make Silence since he first read Endô’s novel 25 years ago. The filmmaker made a pass at the script in 1991, and spoke about why the subject matter resonates with him so deeply:

The subject matter presented by Shusaku Endo was in my life since I was very, very young. I was very much involved in religion, I was raised in a strong Catholic family. … Further reflection is how [we] want to lead our life in the Christian faith … so ultimately this book drew my attention when it was given to me in 1988.

This isn’t Scorsese’s first film to deal in religious themes — the filmmaker also directed The Last Temptation of Christ, the 1988 film starring Willem Dafoe in the role of Jesus Christ.

Silence follows “a Portuguese Jesuit missionary who is persecuted along with other Christians in 17th-century Japan.” Garfield plays the lead role in the film, while Tsukamoto (pictured with Garfield in the first still) plays Mokichi, a villager. The film co-stars Adam Driver and Liam Neeson, and hits theaters sometime next year.