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According to IMDB, Adam Driver (Frances Ha, Lincoln and Inside Llewyn Davis) has been added to the cast of Silence.

And Liam Neeson has been added to the cast of Silence.

It looks like Scorsese's crew is falling into place for Silence.....
DP-Rodrigo Prieto
ProdD-Dante Ferretti
Thelma of course (no explanation needed)
CostD-Sandy Powell
A solid crew.

FrauBlucher wrote:It looks like Scorsese's crew is falling into place for Silence..... DP-Rodrigo Prieto

I'm a little bit surprised to hear Scorsese is going with Prieto again. I figured he and Richardson built such a strong working relationship over the 7 films they've done together over the past almost 20 years that Robert would have been his first choice. If memory serves me correctly, did he not only chose Prieto in the first place because Richardson was still filming Django? Maybe Richardson is already committed to another project already but I'm just a little surprised. Although don't get me wrong, Prieto did a fantastic job on Wolf of Wall Street, the film was shot like a classic Scorsese style, but I was just expecting Richardson

TheDudeAbides wrote:

FrauBlucher wrote:It looks like Scorsese's crew is falling into place for Silence..... DP-Rodrigo Prieto

I'm a little bit surprised to hear Scorsese is going with Prieto again. I figured he and Richardson built such a strong working relationship over the 7 films they've done together over the past almost 20 years that Robert would have been his first choice. If memory serves me correctly, did he not only chose Prieto in the first place because Richardson was still filming Django? Maybe Richardson is already committed to another project already but I'm just a little surprised. Although don't get me wrong, Prieto did a fantastic job on Wolf of Wall Street, the film was shot like a classic Scorsese style, but I was just expecting Richardson

Did Michael Ballhause retire? I never understood if Scorsese purposefully picked Ballhause or Richardson depending on the projects he directed over the years, but I always enjoyed the look both men brought to the collaboration (also a fan of Prieto).

What's interesting is the last film Scorsese did that will share Silence's scenic feel was Kundun, and that was shot by Deakins.

Professor Wagstaff wrote:[Did Michael Ballhause retire?

Yes, I think so. I seem to remember his mentioning somewhere that The Departed would be his last feature film as director of photography.
The DudeAbides, I also have no idea why Richardson is sitting this one out. Perhaps Scorsese likes the fresh energy that comes with working with a relatively younger colleague. Or perhaps the fact that Rodrigo Prieto is a spanish-language native speaker gave him the edge over Richardson since the main characters in the film are Spaniards and it'd be useful to have him around to point out any language inconsistencies. I don't mean this as a slight or backhanded compliment, he's obviously a fantastic photographer and I have no doubt he's capable of being an equal to Ballhaus or Richardson in terms of craft and artistry. Plus, my spanish-language theory depends on Silence having the characters speak in their respective original languages (spanish and japanese) and I'm not so sure that will be the case...

TheDudeAbides wrote:

FrauBlucher wrote:It looks like Scorsese's crew is falling into place for Silence..... DP-Rodrigo Prieto

I'm a little bit surprised to hear Scorsese is going with Prieto again. I figured he and Richardson built such a strong working relationship over the 7 films they've done together over the past almost 20 years that Robert would have been his first choice. If memory serves me correctly, did he not only chose Prieto in the first place because Richardson was still filming Django? Maybe Richardson is already committed to another project already but I'm just a little surprised. Although don't get me wrong, Prieto did a fantastic job on Wolf of Wall Street, the film was shot like a classic Scorsese style, but I was just expecting Richardson

I'm glad to see Scorsese parting ways with Richardson. I've grown tired of that halo/pool of light on tops of people's heads. Though I understand why he went with him for so long. I recall seeing Scorsese interviewed on Charlie Rose where he said he could never make the movies he has in his mind, because his eye moves so fast. This was before Natural Born Killers came out, and when he saw that - it seems Richardson left Oliver Stone soon after. It's a shame, because his best days were with Oliver Stone in the 90's. Tarantino hasn't gotten great work out of him either, but I'm sure I'm in the minority with my disregard for Quentin's work post Jackie Brown. It just feels like Tarantino's production values hurt Richardson's work - all of his sets feel artificial - I never feel like I'm in Japan/WWII Europe or the South.

I don't know if you're referring to more than the QT collabs with that last statement, but with regards to them specifically I think you are missing out on the point. QT even from the start hasn't really worked within the real world instead engaging with a hyper film world built off of other films. We aren't meant to be seeing the real south or Europe, but rather fake representations which resemble their filmic counterparts. Django Unchained looks and feels like the Spanish set for an Italian production and that's how you have to view what you're seeing. What you note is the intention of the work, not a failing of it.

I've grown tired of that halo/pool of light on tops of people's heads.

Do you mean movies shot by Robert Richardson specifically, or any cinematographer utilizing a headlight?

It just feels like Tarantino's production values hurt Richardson's work - all of his sets feel artificial - I never feel like I'm in Japan/WWII Europe or the South.

Curious that you single out the "sets" as I've usually found the production design of a Tarantino movie to be the least artificial aspect of it.

Dylan wrote:Curious that you single out the "sets" as I've usually found the production design of a Tarantino movie to be the least artificial aspect of it.

I agree. His collaboration with David Wasco is hard to find fault with. And, especially in Tarantino's Los Angeles set films, the practical locations, the built sets, and the overall sense of place is pretty unwaveringly authentic, even when the scenario is cinemaniacallly over the top.

I derailed this thread with Tarantino - but Knives, that is a fair point.

Sometimes silence is the deadliest sound

So far:
Cast:
Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, Ken Watanabe and Issei Ogata (Yi Yi)
Crew:
Music by Howard Shore, Cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto, Film Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker,
Production Design by Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration by Francesca Lo Schiavo, Costume Design by Sandy Powell and
Music Department Robbie Robertson...music supervisor

I'm a big fan of Kundun, so this kind of project coming from Scorsese is my most anticipated of 2015.

Is Ossei Ogata playing the villain? I hope he is, instead of Watanabe, since he'd be a far more chilling choice.

Is this based on the 1971 Shinoda film of the same title?

James wrote:Is this based on the 1971 Shinoda film of the same title?

I believe it's based on the same book which that film was based on.

criterion10 wrote:

James wrote:Is this based on the 1971 Shinoda film of the same title?

I believe it's based on the same book which that film was based on.

Correct. It is the novel by Shūsaku Endō. Scorsese has been interested in making this film since the early 90s. He actually had Benecio Del Toro, Gael Garcia Bernal and Daniel Day Lewis attached to this project at one time but it took so long to get off the ground they all had withdrawn. Too bad.

The following is an excerpt from an article about Schoonmaker from Deadline (link for the whole story)....Next up for the duo is Silence, a passion project adapted from the Shusaku Endo novel about 17th century Jesuits who risk their lives to bring Christianity to Japan. The helmer has been trying to get it off the ground for a decade. Schoonmaker is “so excited” for what she says is going to be “a little art film” and very low budget. “We’re all taking a big cut to work on it,” she told me. Later, speaking to the Venice press corps, she added, it’s “so different from Wolf Of Wall Street, you can’t imagine.” On every movie, Scorsese “sets himself a new challenge and wants to change. He doesn’t want to repeat himself” even though “everybody would like us to make Goodfellas over and over and over again.”

Her description of "a little art film" has me juiced.

Presumably we'll see the original on Blu-ray from Criterion around the time this is released (they have it on Hulu), and probably an upgrade from MoC.

Ken Watanabe is no longer attached to this project according to IMDB. I haven't seen any articles about why.

There might be a shooting schedule conflict with his starring in The King and I on Broadway early next year.

The film apparently hasn't even started shooting yet, despite previous reports that it would commence in July. The most recent reference I can find to a shooting schedule is this Chinese article from the 8th, which says it'll start filming this month in Taiwan. I can only assume it still hasn't started, because if it did it would be all over the Taiwanese media. The King and I begins previews in mid-March and rehearsals for a major Broadway musical can easily run two months or more, so I imagine doing both would be cutting it too close for comfort. Jumping from a film shoot to rehearsals to a seven-shows-a-week stage musical sounds like a really bad idea to me.

I'm more surprised that we haven't heard about Adam Driver dropping out given his shooting of the new Star Wars movie and a news season of Girls. If the movie hasn't started filming yet, it seems reasonable to believe that a 2015 release date won't happen given the amount of time Scorsese and Schoonmaker usually spend editing and running behind schedule.

Professor Wagstaff wrote:I'm more surprised that we haven't heard about Adam Driver dropping out given his shooting of the new Star Wars movie and a news season of Girls.

I believe both of those have wrapped already.