An excellent article in the latest edition of Relevant magazine notes that director Martin Scorsese once planned to be a priest before devoting his life to making movies.
Author David Roark writes, “Raised in a religious home, [Scorsese] attended Catholic school and spent a year in seminary. His life was once solely dedicated to the gospel. And though it’s uncertain where his beliefs are today, it is clear he is still working through his faith. Scorsese’s movies have been a lucid autobiography of his convictions and his struggles. He once stated, ‘My whole life has been movies and religion. That’s it. Nothing else.'”
Roark goes on to give a brief film-by-film examination of the spiritual themes of the director’s movies. It’s worth a look.