History Creator / MartinScorsese

* {{Jerkass}} : A lot of his protagonists are like this, and Scorsese admits that he chooses them as a deliberate provocation against conventional good guys.

* ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/Goncharov Goncharov]]'' (1973)

* ''Film/Goncharov'' (1973)

* CreatorProvincialism: He's born and raised in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and many of his most famous films are considered to be among the definitive portraits of the city. Likewise two of his historical films (''Literature/TheAgeOfInnocence, Film/GangsOfNewYork'') are period films of Old New York from two totally different social classes.

* NiceGuy: In his later years, he has a reputation as a polite, kind and humble man whom actors and crew members enjoy working with as evidenced by the amount who've done multiple films with him.

* ThePerfectionist: That American Express commercial he did? That's actually how seriously he takes his movies, and he or any of his assistants will tell you.

** Believe it or not, Scorsese was even considered to direct, no joke, ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors''. It would even have Creator/StevenSpielberg attached as producer. This plan didn't fall through though and instead the film was directed by Muppet legend Creator/FrankOz.

* ''Killers Of The Flower Moon'' (TBA)

** The actor-director Creator/JohnCassavetes served as this to Scorsese, telling him after seeing ''Boxcar Bertha'' that [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre he could do better]] and should make [[DoingItForTheArt more personal films]] instead of genre pieces, which, while well made, were a waste of his talents.

** ''The Last Waltz'' (1978) is about Music/TheBand's farewell concert in 1976, while ''Shine A Light'' (2008) captures Music/TheRollingStones in concert in 2006.

** Usage of Music/TheRollingStones' ''Gimme Shelter'', usually as a subtle [[AStormIsComing premonitory sign]]. Ironically, it does not appear in ''Shine a Light'', his Rolling Stones concert film, because it wasn't on the set list, as noted by Mick Jagger.

* ''Shine a Light'' (2008, Music/TheRollingStones rockumentary)

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His debut film ''Who's That Knocking At My Door?'' is a RomanticComedy. But it features a surprising number of what would become his trademarks (New York setting, a focus on the Italian-American community, Catholic guilt, awesome use of old rock songs on the soundtrack, Creator/HarveyKeitel).

* BeingEvilSucks: Scorsese often portrays the bad guys as being brought down by the same flaws and environment that allowed them to thrive and those with [[NobleDemon some kind of moral code]] often fall victim to [[TheUnfettered those with none]]. In fact, the villainous characters of his films end up much, '''[[UpToEleven much worse]]''' than the good ones, whether brutally murdered, betrayed, arrested or losing everything, especially in his mafia films.

* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: When discussing films like the original ''Scarface''(by Howard Hawks, not Brian De Palma's remake) and a Western like ''Film/TheWildBunch'', Scorsese admits that audiences tend to root for the bad guys and overt DoNotDoThisCoolThing admonitions never work. In his movies, he shows gangsters more or less as they are, showing them as a kind of counter-culture with its own rules and what happens to people who step out of line and by and large leaves it to the audience to sort out their moral alignment.

** BeingEvilSucks: It isn't much easier for people on the other side as Scorsese often portrays them as being brought down by the same flaws and environment that allowed them to thrive and those with [[NobleDemon some kind of moral code]] often fall victim to [[TheUnfettered those with none]]. In fact, the villainous characters of his films end up much, '''[[UpToEleven much worse]]''' than the good ones, whether brutally murdered, betrayed, arrested or losing everything, especially in his mafia films.

* RaisedCatholic: He was raised in a devoutly Catholic environment, and originally wanted to be a priest. He once said "I'm a lapsed Catholic. But I am Roman Catholic - there's no way out of it." His films often deal with Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption. In an interview with Creator/RogerEbert, he was convinced that he ''was'' headed to Hell for divorcing his third wife (Creator/IsabellaRossellini). No ifs, ands, or buts. On the other side of the coin, Scorsese is perfectly able to make a beautiful film about Buddhism, as in ''Kundun''.

* ClusterFBomb: ''Film/RagingBull'', ''Film/{{Casino}}'', ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' , ''Film/TheDeparted'' and ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet''. ''Casino'' once held the record for most dropped F-bombs for a mainstream film until beaten out by his own film ''The Wolf of Wall Street''.

* HistoricalFiction: It's often forgotten that very few of his movies are actually contemporary to the year they are released in (''Who's that Knocking on My Door, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, Life Lessons, The Departed''). The vast majority of his movies are period films set either in the 40s-through-70s and some of them are straight up historical films (''Silence, The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York, Kundun'').
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] and many other younger actors he works with.

Martin Charles Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American filmmaker of Italian descent, born in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy. He began his career as part of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood generation of film school students. He is regarded as one of America's (if not the world's) greatest filmmakers and one of the most influential in the latter half of the 20th Century.

He gained fame for his gritty urban dramas of TheSeventies starring Creator/HarveyKeitel and Creator/RobertDeNiro, movies that were shocking for their visual invention, unconventional editing, intense performances and graphic violence. They made him a critical favorite, culminating in ''Film/TaxiDriver''. After the commercial setback of ''Film/NewYorkNewYork'' and ''Film/RagingBull'', he entered an uncertain and uneven period in TheEighties, but returned to public and critical favour with ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' and a new prolific period where he has averaged one film every two years since 1990. He remains active well into the 21st Century, winning Best Director and Best Picture for ''Film/TheDeparted'' after being a notable case of AwardSnub for more than 30 years. Scorsese is best known for his films about TheMafia but he has in fact made films in a wide variety of genres: Documentaries, concert films, music videos ({{Music/Michael Jackson}}'s "Bad"), literary adaptations (''The Age of Innocence''), BlackComedy (''The King of Comedy, After Hours, The Wolf of Wall Street''), {{Biopic}}s and religious films.

Scorsese is also well known in the wider media since TheEighties for his advocacy of film preservation and restoration, serving as [[OurFounder a founder]] and an active spokesman for The Film Foundation and the World Cinema Foundation. He raised attention for the decay of film stock and the preservation of film prints of several film-makers, both well known and obscure. He also champions cinema as an artform and has devoted considerable attention to restoring the reputations of forgotten film-makers and supporting up-and-coming artists from across the world. He was also, along with Creator/SydneyPollack, one of the most fervent advocates for presenting films on home media in their original aspect ratio, long before the practice became standard.

As much as he prefers having his films in cinemas, Scorsese has bowed to the market reality with the rise of video streaming. For instance, his expensive gangster film, ''Film/TheIrishman'', which was rejected by all the major studios, was picked up by Creator/{{Netflix}} for its drive for Oscar credibility. Now, Scorsese has a First-Look agreement with Creator/AppleTVPlus for his future projects.

He uses many of the same actors in his movies, including Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/JoePesci, Creator/HarveyKeitel, and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. Publicly, he's [[BigOlEyebrows well-known for his big bushy eyebrows]], talking [[MotorMouth really fast]] and his physical stature[[note]]at 5'4", in the Hugo premiere pictures he's shorter than a still-prepubescent Asa Butterfield[[/note]] which is inverse to his standing as a filmmaker. Aside from filmmaking, he also does occasional acting, in his own movies and others. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale''.

-->--'''Martin Scorsese'''

->''"If you're lookin' to get into filmmaking as a career, then this's not for you."''
-->--'''Also Martin Scorsese, describing his MasterClass'''

->''"If you're lookin' to get into filmmaking as a career,then this's not for you."''

Martin Charles Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American filmmaker of Italian descent, born in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy. He began his career as part of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood generation of film school students. He is regarded as one of America's greatest film-makers and one of the most influential in the latter half of the 20th Century.

-->--'''Also Martin Scorsese, describing his {{MasterClass}}'''

** His crime movies keep insisting that most of the time crime does pay, and that while some gangsters and criminals do get caught, it often has less to do with justice, and more because SocietyMarchesOn and a new kind of crime has arrived (such as ''Casino'' showing organized crime being modernized and updated by a more corporate and bureaucratic crime). Most of the time, SocietyIsToBlame, and it's an achievement for Scorsese's characters not so much when they redeem themselves but feel they have something to redeem and feel remorse for, because most of them [[IgnoredEpiphany learn to stifle their conscience]].

He uses many of the same actors in his movies, including Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/JoePesci, Creator/HarveyKeitel, and Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio. Publicly, he's [[BigOlEyebrows Well-known for his big bushy eyebrows]], talking [[MotorMouth really fast]] and his physical stature[[note]]at 5'4", in the Hugo premiere pictures he's shorter than a still-prepubescent Asa Butterfield[[/note]] which is inverse to his standing as a filmmaker. Aside from filmmaking, he also does occasional acting, in his own movies and others. He also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale''.

* VillainProtagonist: The main characters in several of his films aren't nice people, to say the least. Martin Scorsese is unapologetic about this and notes his belief that HumansAreFlawed and that people who society deems as ''villains'' are NotSoDifferent from more respectable people.