Martin Scorsese meets with Pope Francis after the screening of 'Silence' in Rome

Oscar award-winning director Martin Scorsese was granted an audience with the Pope after the screening of his new film, "Silence," in Rome.

The film, based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Shusaku Endo, highlights the struggles of two 17th century priests who went to Japan in search of their mentor at a time when Christianity was forbidden in the country.

The Pope, who had wanted to go to Japan as a missionary back when he was a young priest, told Scorsese that he had also read the 1966 novel by Endo, Variety reported.

More than 300 Jesuit priests attended the screening on Tuesday night at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Another screening was held at the 50-seat Vatican Film Library, but it was not known whether the Pope attended.

The Vatican press office reported that the 15-minute meeting between Scorsese and the pope was "very cordial."

Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest who served as a consultant for the script, answered questions from other Jesuits after the screening.

"He was very engaged and energetic and really impressed the Jesuits in the audience with the depth of his spirituality," Martin said, as reported by Religion News Service.

"You could not make a spiritual film like that without being a spiritual person. It would come off as empty," he added.

The cast of "Silence" includes Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, and Liam Neeson. Driver explained that he and Garfield had to lose a lot of weight in order to portray their roles with authenticity.

"When the movie begins, the characters have been traveling for two years, from Portugal to Macau, sailed around Africa. There's disease and shortage of food," said Driver in an interview with People.

"They're already kind of depleted when they get to Macau before their last leg to Japan. There's a lot of storytelling happening off camera," he added.

Driver said that Scorsese asked them to lose more weight as they continued filming. He revealed that the hunger sometimes helped him deliver a more raw performance, but there were times when he encountered difficulties due to the lack of energy.

"I don't think I've ever taken it to the extreme before. It's an interesting thing," he remarked.

"Silence" will be released in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 23 before it rolls out nationwide in January.