Martin Scorsese's

Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, three Emmy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, two Directors Guild of America Awards, an AFI Life Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2007. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Scorsese received an MA from New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development in 1968. His directorial debut, ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'' (1967), was accepted into the Chicago Film Festival. In the 1970s and 1980s decades, Scorsese's films, much influenced by his Italian-American background and upbringing in New York City, center on macho-posturing insecure men and explore crime, machismo, nihilism, and Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption. His trademark styles include extensive use of slow motion and freeze frames, graphic depictions of extreme violence, and liberal use of profanity.

His 1973 crime film ''Mean Streets'', dealing with machismo and violence, and exploring Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, was a blueprint for his filmmaking styles. Scorsese won the Palme d'Or at Cannes with his 1976 psychological thriller '' Taxi Driver'', which starred Robert De Niro, who became associated with Scorsese through eight more films including ''New York, New York'' (1977), '' Raging Bull'' (1980) '' The King of Comedy'' (1982), '' Goodfellas'' (1990), and '' Casino'' (1995). In the 2000s and 2010s decades, Scorsese garnered critical acclaim and box office success with a series of collaborations with Leonardo DiCaprio. These films include '' Gangs of New York'' (2002), '' The Aviator'' (2004), '' The Departed'' (2006), ''Shutter Island'' (2010) and '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013). Returning to his familiar territory of crime films, Scorsese collaborated with De Niro again on '' The Irishman'' (2019). Scorsese's other film work includes the black comedy '' After Hours'' (1985), the romantic drama '' The Age of Innocence'' (1993), the children's adventure drama ''Hugo'' (2011), and the religious epics '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' (1988), '' Kundun'' (1997) and '' Silence'' (2016).

In addition to film, Scorsese has directed episodes for some television series including the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2011–2015), and '' Vinyl'' (2016), as well as the HBO documentary ''Public Speaking'' (2010), and the Netflix docu-series ''Pretend It's a City'' (2021). He is also known for several rock music documentaries including '' The Last Waltz'' (1978), '' No Direction Home'' (2005), '' Shine a Light'' (2008), and '' George Harrison: Living in the Material World'' (2011). An advocate for film preservation and restoration, he founded three nonprofit organizations: the Film Foundation in 1990, the World Cinema Foundation in 2007, and the African Film Heritage Project in 2017.

Early life

Martin Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942, in the Flushing area of New York City's Queens borough. His family moved to Little Italy in Manhattan before he started school. Both of Scorsese's parents, Charles Scorsese and Catherine Scorsese (born Cappa), worked in New York's Garment District. Charles was a clothes presser and an actor while Catherine was a seamstress and an actress. Both of them were of Italian descent: his paternal grandparents, Francesco Paolo and Teresa Scozzese, emigrated from Polizzi Generosa, while his maternal grandparents, Martino and Domenica Cappa, emigrated from Ciminna, both in the province of Palermo, Sicily. The original surname of the family was ''Scozzese'', later changed to Scorsese because of a transcription error. Scorsese was raised in a predominantly Catholic environment.

As a boy, he had asthma and could not play sports or take part in any activities with other children, so his parents and his older brother would often take him to movie theaters; it was at this stage in his life that he developed a passion for cinema. As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Powell and Pressburger's '' The Tales of Hoffmann'' (1951) from a store that had one copy of the reel. Scorsese was one of only two people who regularly rented it; the other was future film director George A. Romero.

Scorsese has cited Sabu and Victor Mature as his favorite actors during his youth. He has also spoken of the influence of the 1947–48 Powell and Pressburger films ''Black Narcissus'' and '' The Red Shoes'', whose innovative techniques later impacted his filmmaking. In his documentary titled ''A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies'', Scorsese said that he was enamored of historical epics in his adolescence, and at least two films of the genre, '' Land of the Pharaohs'' and ''El Cid'', appear to have had a deep and lasting impact on his cinematic psyche. Scorsese also developed an admiration for neorealist cinema at this time. He recounted its influence in a documentary on Italian neorealism, and commented on how '' Bicycle Thieves'', '' Rome, Open City'' and especially ''Paisà'' inspired him and influenced his view or portrayal of his Sicilian roots. In his documentary, '' Il Mio Viaggio in Italia'' (''My Voyage to Italy''), Scorsese noted that the Sicilian episode of Roberto Rossellini's ''Paisà'', which he first saw on television with his relatives who were themselves Sicilian immigrants, had a significant impact on his life. He acknowledges owing a great debt to the French New Wave and has stated that "the French New Wave has influenced all filmmakers who have worked since, whether they saw the films or not." He has also cited filmmakers including Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Federico Fellini as major influences on his career.

He attended the all-boys Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, graduating in 1960. He had initially desired to become a priest, attending a preparatory seminary but failed after the first year. This gave way to cinema and consequently Scorsese enrolled in NYU's Washington Square College (now known as the College of Arts and Science), where he earned a B.A. in English in 1964. He went on to earn his MA from New York University's School of Education (now the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development) in 1968, a year after the school was founded.

Career

1960s

While attending the Tisch School of the Arts, Scorsese made the short films '' What's a Nice Girl like You Doing in a Place like This?'' (1963) and '' It's Not Just You, Murray!'' (1964). His most famous short of the period is the darkly comic ''The Big Shave'' (1967), which features Peter Bernuth. The film is an indictment of America's involvement in Vietnam, suggested by its alternative title ''Viet '67''. Scorsese has mentioned on several occasions that he was greatly inspired in his early days at New York University by film professor Haig P. Manoogian.

In 1967, Scorsese made his first feature-length film, the black and white ''I Call First'', which was later retitled ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'', with his fellow students actor Harvey Keitel and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, both of whom were to become long-term collaborators. This film was intended to be the first of Scorsese's semi-autobiographical J. R. Trilogy, which would have included a later film, ''Mean Streets''. Film critic Roger Ebert saw the film at the 1967 Chicago International Film Festival and in his review praised Scorsese and the film, writing, "'I Call First' brings these two kinds of films together into a work that is absolutely genuine, artistically satisfying and technically comparable to the best films being made anywhere. I have no reservations in describing it as a great moment in American movies."

1970s

Scorsese became friends with the influential "movie brats" of the 1970s: Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was De Palma who introduced Scorsese to Robert De Niro. During this period, Scorsese worked as the assistant director and one of the editors on the documentary '' Woodstock'' (1970) and met actor–director John Cassavetes, who became a close friend and mentor. In 1972, Scorsese made the Depression-era exploiter '' Boxcar Bertha'' for B-movie producer Roger Corman, who also helped directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and John Sayles launch their careers. It was Corman who taught Scorsese that entertaining films could be shot with very little money or time, preparing the young director well for the challenges to come with ''Mean Streets''. Following the film's release, Cassavetes encouraged Scorsese to make the films that he wanted to make, rather than someone else's projects.

Championed by influential film critic Pauline Kael, ''Mean Streets'' was a breakthrough for Scorsese, De Niro, and Keitel. By now the signature Scorsese style was in place: macho posturing, bloody violence, Catholic guilt and redemption, gritty New York locale (though the majority of ''Mean Streets'' was shot in Los Angeles), rapid-fire editing and a soundtrack with contemporary music. Although the film was innovative, its wired atmosphere, edgy documentary style, and gritty street-level direction owed a debt to directors Cassavetes, Samuel Fuller and early Jean-Luc Godard. In 1974, actress Ellen Burstyn chose Scorsese to direct her in ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. Although well regarded, the film remains an anomaly in the director's early career as it focuses on a central female character. Returning to Little Italy to explore his ethnic roots, Scorsese next came up with ''Italianamerican'', a documentary featuring his parents Charles and Catherine Scorsese.

Scorsese followed with '' Taxi Driver'' in 1976, which depicted a Vietnam veteran who takes the law into his own hands on New York's crime-ridden streets. The film established him as an accomplished filmmaker and also brought attention to cinematographer Michael Chapman, whose style tends towards high contrasts, strong colors, and complex camera movements. The film starred Robert De Niro as the angry and alienated Travis Bickle, and co-starred Jodie Foster in a highly controversial role as an underage prostitute, with Harvey Keitel as her pimp. ''Taxi Driver'' also marked the start of a series of collaborations between Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader, whose influences included the diary of would-be assassin Arthur Bremer and '' Pickpocket'', a film by the French director Robert Bresson. Writer–director Schrader often returns to Bresson's work in films such as ''American Gigolo'', '' Light Sleeper'', and Scorsese's later '' Bringing Out the Dead''. Already controversial upon its release, ''Taxi Driver'' hit the headlines again five years later, when John Hinckley Jr. made an assassination attempt on then-president Ronald Reagan. He subsequently blamed his act on his obsession with Jodie Foster's ''Taxi Driver'' character (in the film, De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, makes an assassination attempt on a senator).

''Taxi Driver'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, also receiving four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The critical and financial success of ''Taxi Driver'' encouraged Scorsese to move ahead with his first big-budget project: the highly stylized musical ''New York, New York''. This tribute to Scorsese's home town and the classic Hollywood musical was a box-office failure. The film was the director's third collaboration with Robert De Niro, co-starring with Liza Minnelli. The film is best remembered today for the title theme song, which was popularized by Frank Sinatra. Although possessing Scorsese's usual visual panache and stylistic bravura, many critics felt its enclosed studio-bound atmosphere left it leaden in comparison with his earlier work. Despite its weak reception, the film is regarded positively by some critics. Richard Brody in '' The New Yorker'' wrote:

In 1977 he directed the Broadway musical '' The Act'', starring Liza Minnelli. The disappointing reception that ''New York, New York'' received drove Scorsese into depression. By this stage the director had developed a serious cocaine addiction. However, he did find the creative drive to make the highly regarded '' The Last Waltz'', documenting the final concert by The Band. It was held at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, and featured one of the most extensive lineups of prominent guest performers at a single concert, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Paul Butterfield, Neil Diamond, Ronnie Wood, and Eric Clapton. However, Scorsese's commitments to other projects delayed the release of the film until 1978. Another Scorsese-directed documentary, titled '' American Boy'', also appeared in 1978, focusing on Steven Prince, the cocky gun salesman who appeared in ''Taxi Driver''. A period of wild partying followed, damaging the director's already fragile health. Scorsese helped provide footage for the documentary '' Elvis on Tour''.

1980s

By several accounts (Scorsese's included), Robert De Niro saved Scorsese's life when he persuaded him to kick his cocaine addiction to make his highly regarded film '' Raging Bull''. Writing for ''The New Yorker'' in March 2000, Mark Singer summarized Scorsese's condition stating:

He (Scorsese) was more than mildly depressed. Drug abuse, and abuse of his body in general, culminated in a terrifying episode of internal bleeding. Robert De Niro came to see him in the hospital and asked, in so many words, whether he wanted to live or die. If you want to live, De Niro proposed, let's make this picture—referring to ''Raging Bull'', an as-told-to book by Jake La Motta, the former world middleweight boxing champion, that De Niro had given him to read years earlier.

Convinced that he would never make another movie, he poured his energies into making this violent biopic of middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta, calling it a kamikaze method of film-making. The film is widely viewed as a masterpiece and was voted the greatest film of the 1980s by Britain's '' Sight & Sound'' magazine. It received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Robert De Niro and Scorsese's first for Best Director. De Niro won, as did Thelma Schoonmaker for editing, but Best Director went to Robert Redford for ''Ordinary People''. From this work onwards, Scorsese's films are always labeled as "A Martin Scorsese Picture" on promotional material. ''Raging Bull'', filmed in high contrast black and white, is where Scorsese's style reached its zenith: ''Taxi Driver'' and ''New York, New York'' had used elements of expressionism to replicate psychological points of view, but here the style was taken to new extremes, employing extensive slow-motion, complex tracking shots, and extravagant distortion of perspective (for example, the size of boxing rings would change from fight to fight). Thematically too, the concerns carried on from ''Mean Streets'' and ''Taxi Driver'': insecure males, violence, guilt, and redemption.

Although the screenplay for ''Raging Bull'' was credited to Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin (who earlier co-wrote ''Mean Streets''), the finished script differed extensively from Schrader's original draft. It was rewritten several times by various writers including Jay Cocks

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases