''Have I succeeded, in my own life? I don''t know. I don''t think so. I''m in my eighties now and I just don''t know. But then, maybe "success" is the wrong way of framing it. You just try, and when you fail, you keep trying.''

Over the course of eight years, Martin Scorsese and Jesuit theologian Antonio Spadaro discussed filmmaking and faith.

From his Catholic upbringing amidst the brutality of 1950s New York to the heights of Hollywood, Scorsese sketches a unique self-portrait. And from Mean Streets to Killers of the Flower Moon - and especially the spiritual reckonings of The Last Temptation of Christ and Silence - he grants readers a new understanding of his films.

Reflecting on grace and violence, fear and hope, passion and belief, these rich and intimate conversations offer a remarkable insight into the director''s life and work.