The King of Comedy

Martin Scorsese was born in New York City and soon developed a passion for cinema and a particular admiration for neo-realist cinema which inspired him and influenced his view or portrayal of his Sicilian heritage. After graduating from NYU Film School in 1966 and making a number of shorts, he shot his first feature-length film Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1968) with fellow student, actor Harvey Keitel, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker both of whom were to become long-term collaborators. Mean Streets followed in 1973 and provided the benchmarks for the ‘Scorsese style’. After Scorsese directed Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the trio was reunited for the dark journey of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. After New York, New York Scorsese released Raging Bull. The acclaimed biography of middleweight fighter Jake LaMotta was followed by exploration of fans as pariah in The King of Comedy, dark-comic dreams in After Hours and pool sharks in The Color of Money. Scorsese outraged some religious groups by attempting to portray a human son of God in The Last Temptation of Christ before returning to more familiar territory with the Mafia in Goodfellas. He followed with Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence and Casino (1995). His recent works include Gangs of New York, entirely shot in Cinecittà, The Aviator, the Bob Dylan’s documentary No Direction’s Home and The Departed which earned four Oscars, including best director. —World Cinema Foundation