Scorsese....break time

After the early success of his new film The Departed, Martin Scorsese is planning to take a break from "Hollywood blockbusters" and focus on the adaptation of a Japanese novel for his next work.

Scorsese won the only standing ovation so far at the Rome Film Festival with the screening of The Departed and has already been mentioned as a likely Oscar contender.

Scorsese said he had had no particular problems with Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio behind the film, but that he was finding it harder and harder to work on big productions, and felt Hollywood studios restricted the creativity of directors.

His next project is an adaptation of Shusaku Endo's novel Silence, telling the story of two 17th century Portuguese missionaries.

"It's a small-scale, lower-budget film. I have wanted to do it for 15 years," he said. However, he said if he comes across another script like The Departed along the way, he would not say no.

"I'd be tempted, because it's like a disease. It's like a drug."