I’d say the title of worlds biggest cinephile fits him nicely.
As I have said countless times on here Scorsese changed my life. After becoming obsessed with his films, I listened to his teachings which exposed me to many of the films I now love.
He introduced me to silent films and non-U.S. films, and little seen American films. He changed me from an 11 year old lover of Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski (both films I still love, but you get my point) into someone who was ready to explore the vast wonderment of cinema.
Who knows if I would have arrived there on my own. The point is he helped me get started early and I honestly owe the biggest aspect of my life to Mr. Scorsese.
Drew, so do I in last few years of teaching and in retirement now—Thanks as always— Malick, also world’s biggest cinephile will do as well.
ahem,ahem,sure he is great,heck i love nearly all of the films listed here(with exceptions like Aviator and Departed,hehe),still….
we overlook the big picture and directors such are Akerman,Varda,Kiarostami,Kwon-taek,and i bet Godard could be considered a huge cinephile as well as the diseased Vertov(though for the latter,his era had yet to develop a great amount of films,hehe)
Scorsese could be voted as THE or ONE OF THE biggest U.S. cinephile/directors/critics…..
p.s.: am not a trolll :P
dunno the answer to your question, but hes made a few stinkers lately
Budrose, this thread has nothing to do with Scorsese-directed recent movies but his genius as critic and preserver of others’ films in recent times, especially his recommendations of rare films that very few people have seen previously.
Good topic and one I heartily concur with. As a filmmaker I feel he has become too enmeshed within Hollywood. Consequently, he hasn’t made a first class film for nearly two decades in my opinion. It doesn’t help that he keeps espousing and employing DiCaprio who has the gravitas of wallpaper (and he (DiCaprio) fatally undermines every film he’s made with Scorsese.
However, I digress this film is about Scorsese’s brilliance as a film critic. His American journey documentary is a seminal work one that film students will be watching a hundred years from now. It’s opening up of the subject of film, whilst covering a remarkable breadth, without overwhelming the viewer (Indeed, inspiring them), is a joy to behold. His Italian viaggio was also wonderful, although it had a tough act to follow
Does anyone know when his long-talked-of English documentary is coming out?
Never heard of his English documentary. I mostly agree with Lermentov — his films of late, though better than most Hollywood films currently made, are not quite on the level of his 70s and 80s work. However, you mention he is too enmeshed within Hollywood — remember, almost all of his films (especially his greatest films) were made in the Hollywood system. Also, sorry — I think DiCaprio is brilliant, and their pairing equal to his pairing with De Niro.
He stands alone as not only a great filmmaker but also a passionate educator. My pet peeve is directors who refuse to do commentary tracks — Scorsese does perhaps the best commentary tracks I’ve ever heard, and everything he does outside of directing speaks to an amazing love of cinema that is inspirational. I haven’t seen Viaggio yet, but no-one can go wrong seeing every film he mentions in American Journey!
I agree Tom about the commentary tracks. Moreover, they turn up in all over the place, for example, recently picked up a cheap copy of The Set-Up and there he was with another insightful, first rate commentary – alongside Robert Wise.
As for the Hollywood system, you are right about his oeuvre, all I would say is that Hollywood of the Seventies was a far more fecund place than it is today. In addition, when he made Taxi Driver he was on the periphery of the system (hence, small budget, etc), I don’t feel he is in the same place today.
Tom and Lermentov, you get to heart of what I’m after here—he’s more of the essential film critic now than the essential filmmaker—his commentaries, film essays, voyages in film, etc. will be his essential legacy to cinema, not necessarily his own films.
I agree Bobby. One of his great talents is his ability to engage, inform and inspire film-neophytes, as well as lifelong cinephiles.
Few if any have done more for film as a filmmaker, preservationist, and cinephile than has Scorsese.
few if any?i think Eisenstein would disagree on that one :P
Huh?
probably my pun wasn’t understandable but let’s be serious,Scorsese isn’t the only guy/gal auteur who has contributed in cinema theory,he’s just the most famous,i didn’t need Scorsese’s preservation techniques to watch Three Crowns of a Sailor nor his elaborate distinctions on Voulgaris’ cinema and i certainly didn’t need his assistance with Illumination by Zanussi or I Am Curious Yellow..
having seen all but 2 of Scorsese’s films,i prefer him much more as a director/auteur and secondary as a film critic/film observer…
I think the reason he has such a great eye for other people’s films is because he’s a great director. He views films more as a director than a critic, and he always stresses this in interviews — he follows in his gut where the filmmaker is going rather than analyzing it conceptually.
“Scorsese isn’t the only guy/gal auteur who has contributed in cinema theory”
never said “only,” never said anything about “theory.”
few if any is a comment pointing towards to someone…if i were to say few if any have contributed to 20th century literature like Joyce did,i’d be pointing out the finger mostly on Joyce ;) and no matter how i love Joyce,i cannot deny the contribution of countless others like Beauvoir or Marquez… ;)
and cinephile is a close-by-term to cinema theory…but….hey,let’s just all hail Scorsese’s knowledge,right? ;P
Not just knowledge, but advocacy—a willingness to put his name behind films he’s interested in and projects like My Voyage to Italy and A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies.
Well, i’ve been thinking for a while, even before the service his Foundation is providing linked here with auteurs site, while Scorsese’s value as a director has been falling, his value and achievements as a knowledgeable commentator on, preserver and promoter of world cinema have increased. His experience as a film-maker, his sensitivity- that in his films often seems in conflict with (even if inadvertently) glamourised violence- his huge and unpretentious love for the subject, his reputation and influence means he’s ideally placed to spread the word. I hope his film Silence will be up to his best too, cos i think he’s fallen well short of that standard in recent years.
Silence won’t be up to his best because it’s gonna be another movie “remake” like he did with Departed (and admittedly fucked up as most remakes do) but Silence is gonna be another “rendition” of a novel,yet it will never surpass one of Masahiro Shinoda’s masterpieces,the first adaption of Silence..!!!
Scorsese’s Silence will have the names and that’s how it will live up in the future…
and the reason i can’t support the notion of Scorsese as THE film viewer of directors is that during the 2000’s he has clearly fucked up in his own directorial “achievements”!even Boxcar Bertha seems a masterpiece compared to the despicable Aviator…i will grand him among the best but not THE most important auteur/cinema fan…
Some of the best responses I’ve got here on Auteurs are in this thread—I love Auteurs—what a learning experience for me and I hope others—if we did not have interruptions of true idiocy, this would be best site on the web I think.
well, winning the Best Director Oscar could be taken as official sign of ranking below the elite, given that in my extremely humble opinion none of the very greatest directors won that award. I’m not one of his fans for his direction- i’ve disliked or been disappointed with all his features since the early 90s, but i think he deserves more recognition of other aspects of his contribution to cinema
he does,i won’t deny it Kenji however…a best director’s award means nothing,especially when his last important films were in the early 90’s (sorry,haha) and when he’s ignored in favor of Spielberg’s and Costner’s,the Academy has long lost it,the reason i prefer Cannes and Venice nominations,the winner there is relative :)
and aye to the second argument of the first sentence,the fact that Gibson,Howard,Zemeckis and even Schaffner have received a director’s award which in a better world Teshigahara,Hitchcock,Lang,Shepitko and Wertmuller would OWN makes me question why the majority of the public loves those stupid awards…
Yes, i’ve come to despise the Oscars, all hype and ignorance, if not racism (at the very least reinforcing parochialism, Hollywood dominance and Anglo-Saxon superiority). And there are directors whose work and taste i prefer to Scorsese’s, and many who have a wealth of experience, eg Angelopoulos, Oliveira, and some- like Rivette and Rohmer- as critics as well as directors. But i do respect Scorsese’s love of the subject and helping to preserve unsung international films.
u gotta admit though that Scorsese is a better film-maker than Coppola is,hehe ;)
i will despise Scorsese(a bit,hehe)if he continues doing pointless projects like with Shutter Island,am cautious for now..he stopped being bold with Gangs..
racism is a significant factor,it’s statistics,people won’t stop watching U.S. based films as a majority,a main reason is distribution but let’s not get into that..
if Scorsese were to become president in the Oscars,does anyone think he’d drastically change them and allow more non-english spoken films to be nominated….i’d vote for a deletion of foreign film category…THE most insulting film category (even the song one doesn’t reach that insult,haha) and i believe Martin would agree with me ;)
I think it’s primarily parochialism, after all the Academy Awards are Hollywood’s self-congratulatory gesture.
I’m sure all the mediocre nominees for best picture breathe a big sigh of relief when they’re up against a gay-themed movie. “Whew, our biggest competition is about butt pirates? We’re in, we’re in.”
streetcar desire
Wake up and smell the roses—if you follow Scorsese to find the rare films he highly recommends, you will never be disappointed—and you’ll get the best film education possible at present—when all is said and done, he’ll be remembered more for film criticism and restoration than film maker—he’s the best when it comes to film recommendations and why these films must be seen and preserved—in my last years of teaching I showed my students his available recommendations and they never said to me why are showing us this? He can not be over praised—I challenge you to a list of his recommendations—here are some of my favorites of his: A Canterbury Tale, nearly anyrhing by Visconti especially The Leopard and Ludwig, Horse Thief, Red Shoes, anything by Powell and Pressburger, anything by Paradjanov,etc