Martin Scorsese turns 82 years old today. How do you define a genius in just a few words? Known for his work in various genres, Martin knows how to transform a simple story into something big.
For example, who would watch the storyline of a taxi driver constantly criticizing the world around him? Even though it doesn’t seem like a good story, the filmmaker made Robert De Niro become the most famous taxi driver ever.
When it comes to the turn of events, a classic Scorsese film knows how to surprise you. Whenever you think: “Where is this leading to?” There’s always a surprise in the end, and it simply becomes one of your favourite films of all time.
Martin grew up in New York, in the little Italian neighborhood of the city’s Manhattan borough, which probably explains the Italian-American influence in one of his works: Mean Streets.
Having a soft spot for Gangster films, Scorsese has written at least three films about gangsters, such as Goodfellas, Casino, and Gangs of New York.
Constantly being nominated for the Academy Awards, the filmmaker has 15 nominations, of which ten are for the category of Best Director. Even though he is the most-nominated living director, Martin has only won once in this category, in 2006, with the movie, The Departed.
Scorsese it’s a legend, he’s the great meaning behind “Absolute Cinema”, and to prove that we’ve selected 4 of his films for you to watch!
MEAN STREETS (1973)
Every director has their favourite actors. When Martin saw Robert De Niro’s acting for the first time in Mean Streets, he knew they would become partners in crime.
This is the first collaboration of many between Martin and Robert, which makes the film even more special.
The film follows the story of Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel), a young Italian-American guy who’s hampered by his feeling of responsibility towards his friend, Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro).
During the day Charlie is a very devoted catholic man, during the night he does favours for the Italian mafia, and finds himself in an identity crisis.
When Johnny gets Charlie in trouble because of gambling debts, it’s when the film changes and Charlie sees himself in a hurry to save his friend’s life.
If you like classical rock music, you’ll definitely have fun watching this one. The Rolling Stones are all over the soundtrack, and it’s like the music follows the storyline of the movie, which was a revolutionary move at the time.
When “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes opens the film, it’s been considered one of the most remarkable moments from Scorsese’s career, as it’s the perfect use of a pop song in a movie.
Taxi Driver (1976)
A classic psychological drama. Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is an ex-Marine and Vietnam War veteran living in New York City.
Diagnosed with Insomnia, Travis decides to do something while he can’t sleep and then starts working as a taxi driver at night.
He’s a loner, doesn’t have a family or a pet. The only company that he meets are his passengers, and while working several hours, night after night, he begins to reflect on the issues of the world.
Travis has strong opinions about people, he has a harsh critical sense of what’s morally correct and what’s not.
As his shifts pass, he begins to make up a plan to end the evil seeds of the world, that’s when he decides to buy a gun and make justice with his own hands.
Filled with monologues and philosophical questions, Taxi Driver is still one of the most iconic films of Martin’s career.
The scene where Robert De Niro points a gun at his reflection in the mirror and asks: “You talkin’ to me?” It is considered one of the most remarkable scenes in Hollywood’s history.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
It turns out De Niro isn’t the only favourite actor of Scorsese’s. Leonardo Dicaprio has featured in six of Martin’s films, and by far Dicaprio’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street is one of his most iconic characters.
The storyline follows Jordan Belford (Dicaprio), who is an ambitious stockbroker who creates a true empire, getting rich quickly, but illegally. When their illicit acts start to get the police’s attention, it’s when everything starts to change.
Based on a true story, the film has a lot of curiosities behind the scenes, and even improvised scenes that made it to the final cut.
Did you know that Matthew McConaughey’s scenes were shot two weeks before the beginning of filming, and this scene when he suddenly was beating on his chest and humming was actually improvised, a simple warm-up rite that he performs before acting?
When Leonardo saw it, he was surprised, and the brief shot of him looking away uneasily from the camera, was actually him looking at Martin Scorsese for approval.
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
The adaptation of David Grinn‘s book Killers of the Flower Moon: Oil, Money, and the Origin of FBI, tells the story of the case of multiple murderers of members of the Osage Tribe in Oklahoma during the 1920s.
The film is set in 1918, after the end of World War I, and begins with the return of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) to the home of his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro).
The story unfolds when oil is discovered on the land of the Osage tribe, and members of the tribe begin to be murdered one by one.
The case gets into the FBI’s radar and it’s investigated by J. Edgar Hoover.
The picture follows the attempt of a stroke that doesn’t end very well, we see the story through the villain’s eyes, and we cannot resist but feel a bit revolting during the movie.
The Killers of The Flower Moon has definetely one of the most authentic endings, which counts with the presence of Martin Scorsese himself.
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The article above was edited by Isabelle Bignardi.
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