He could probably say all the words right next to this picture in under 10 seconds.
My whole life has been movies and religion. That`s it. Nothing else.—Martin Scorsese
"
Cuz he makes the best fuckin' films
He makes the best fuckin' films
I've ever seen in my life
I fuckin' love him, I fuckin' love him"
Martin Charles Scorsese is a beloved Italian-American filmmaker, born in 1942 in
New York City and grew up in the neighborhood of Little Italy. He is famous for his movies about organized crime in the United States. His early films quickly made him a critical favorite, culminating in
Taxi Driver.
This allowed him to make his big-budgeted dream project,
New York, New York, which bombed. The '80s were an uneven period, with
Raging Bull drawing from
his struggles with kicking cocaine, and
Gangs Of New York and
The Last Temptation of Christ caught in
Development Hell. The '90s saw the release of
Goodfellas, often cited as his best movie, and
Casino, a very similar (and almost similarly respected) film.
Gangs Of New York was finally released in 2002.
He uses many of the same actors in his movies, including
Robert De Niro,
Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and
Leonardo DiCaprio.
He is famous for not having won an Oscar for Best Picture or Best Director at the height of his popularity and critical recognition. He eventually won his Best Director Oscar for
The Departed, which won three other Oscars including Best Picture, immediately suffered
Hype Backlash.
Well-known for his big bushy eyebrows, talking
really fast and his physical stature
* at 5'4", in the Hugo premiere pictures he's shorter than a still-prepubescent Asa Butterfield
which is inverse to his standing as a filmmaker.
Partial filmography:
Tropes common to Scorsese and his works include:
- Anti-Hero: The Nominal Hero and the Villainous show up a lot.
- Ax Crazy
- Big Applesauce: New York is a common setting for his works.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows
- Bittersweet Ending
- Black Comedy / Comedic Sociopathy
- Black and Grey Morality
- Brooklyn Rage
- Christianity is Catholic: Somewhat justified, in that the majority of characters in his best known films (i.e. the ones involving organised crime) tend to be Italian or Irish, two strongly Catholic ethnicities.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Raging Bull, Casino, Goodfellas and The Departed.
- Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster: Deconstructed frequently, but Do Not Do This Cool Thing.
- Dyeing For Your Art: Raging Bull being the most prominent example; Daniel Day-Lewis also went above and beyond for his part in Gangs Of New York.
- Evil Versus Evil
- Gallows Humor
- Glory Days
- Hair-Trigger Temper
- Jerkass
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Laser-Guided Karma: His gangster films usually end badly for the criminals.
- The Mafia: He's created the most iconic Mafia films outside of The Godfather
- Missing Episode: Who's that Knocking At My Door was supposed to be the second installment of a trilogy of films based around the idea of crime and Catholic guilt. Mean Streets was the third part. The first part, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, would have involved the Harvey Keitel character going to a seminary retreat and would have been based around symbolism from the stages of the cross. No studio would fund it due to its overtly religious nature.
- Motor Mouth
- New York City
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown
- Nothing But Hits: An example of the trope at it's finest; Scorsese's movies possess some of the best soundtracks ever.
- One of Us: While most of today's filmmakers operate with an "out with the old, in with the new" mentality, Scorsese is president of The Film Foundation, which is dedicated to the preservation of film (including the very obscure, very old ones). For this passion alone he is adored by many a fan of silent film and classics alike. A good part of the reason Hugo works so well is because of this.
- During his childhood he would constantly borrow a certain book from the New York Public Library featuring photos from various films up to 1950, and a few times succumbed to the temptation to clip a picture out.
- Watch his documentaries about American and Italian cinema to see Scorsese in full-on film geek mode.
- Scorsese once surprised Dave Chappelle by saying he was a fan and quoting from "The Playa Haters Ball".
- Pigeonholed Director: Scorsese has constantly experimented with different genres, but gangster dramas are clearly his bread-and-butter.
- Lampshaded by Billy Crystal during the 84th Academy Awards in regards to Hugo. "Are you sure this is a Scorsese movie? No one's gotten whacked yet."
- Raised Catholic: 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.
- Redemption Quest
- Rockumentary: The Last Waltz (1978) is about The Band's farewell concert in 1976, while Shine A Light (2008) captures The Rolling Stones in concert in 2006.
- Early in his career, Scorsese was assistant director and editor for the Woodstock film.
- So My Kids Can Watch: He's said he made Hugo so he'd have at least one film his daughter could see.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Lots of oldies and classic rock. Lampshaded in Mean Streets.
- Scorsese excels at mixing songs to the appropriate scene. Goodfellas is the perfect example.
- Trigger Happy
- Usage of The Rolling Stones' 'Gimme Shelter'' as a Signature Song, usually as a subtle premonitory sign
- Villain Protagonist: The main characters in most of his films are not nice people.
0 reviews