Directors - Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

One of the directors I've chose to delve in to for part of my research on directors, is the wonderful Martin Charles Scorsese.

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17th 1942 an raised in Queens New York, he lived in a devoutly catholic environment. Scorsese was born with asthma, resulting in him being unable to take part in sports/psychical activities when he was going through school, so his older brother and parents would take him to the movie theatre, this is where his passion for movies manifested from. He took many a inspiration from many films, in particular films that would soon influence his view and portrayal of his Sicilian roots e.g Bicycle thieves, Paisa and Open City. He also is aware of the debt that is owed to the French New Wave, and how that has influenced all filmmakers who have worked since it's birth. 

Scorsese's early work on his first feature, 'Who's that Knocking At My Door' would see him strike up great long lasting collaborations with such people like Harvey Keitel and Thelma Schoonmaker (Editor). Shortly after, he'd be introduced to De Niro, by Brian De Palma (Part of the 'movie brats') and the rest is history. 

                                                        (Mean Streets - 1973)

Mean Streets was a break through, there was a signature style to his work, themes, machismo, bloody violence, catholic guilt and redemption. Also his rapid fire editing and soundtracks with contemporary music solidifying his already brilliant break through. 

                                                     (Taxi Driver - 1976)

Then came along Taxi Driver, the dark urban nightmare of one lonely mans slow descent into insanity. This film established Scorsese as an accomplished filmmaker. The film was nominated for many prestigious awards and won Palme D'or at Cannes Film Festival 1976. 

From this we can see his technical abilities, individual style and the themes he has throughout his films all growing and maturing, becoming an Auteur. So from the success of Taxi Driver, he then landed his first big budget film, New York New York - 1977, unfortunately it was a box office flop. Although this film did possess the usual visual confidence and the stylistic bravura, many felt it was too studio bound, which left it leaden in comparison to his earlier work. 

The negative feedback that New York New York received sent Scorsese into severe depression. He also developed around this stage of his life an addiction for cocaine. It wasn't until the 1980's , in which De Niro practically saved his life by telling him to kick his cocaine addiction to make the highly regarded film Raging Bull - 1980. Scorsese, convinced he would never make a film again, poured everything into it, calling it a kamikaze method of filmmaking. The film went on to receive many accolades, getting Scorsese his first Best director nomination. Some people say this is where he reached his zenith in terms of style. Taxi Driver and New York New York had used elements of expressionism, to replicate psychological point of views, but here the style was taken to new extremes, employing extensive slow motion, complex tracking shots. Thematically too, the concerns continued from Mean Streets, and Taxi Driver,: Insecure males, violence, guilt and redemption. 

                                                          (Raging Bull - 1980)

I think the relevance and interest between my chosen director (Coen Bros) and Scorsese is simple, they both have unique and comparable styles. They're both Auteurs in their own right. They both share technical competence, individual style and interior meaning throughout all of their films. 

For instance Scorsese's themes throughout the majority of his films usually involve Italian - american identity, roman catholic concepts of guilt, redemption, machismo, modern crime, gang conflict and corruption psychically and mentally.  

The themes that I'd associate through the majority of the Coen bros. Films usually consist of characters always having floors, usage of film noir elements, kidnapping and murder, difficult portrayals of the law enforcement i.e Fargo and No Country For Old Men. These are just to name a few reoccurring elements throughout the Coen Bros films. 

In conclusion, Scorsese fascinates me just as much as the Coen Bros but for different reasons, their films are disparate but the level of meticulous preparation the same. It's the vast amount of work that is put into their films that I've found incredibly entertaining to research and watch.