Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, a New York neighborhood, into a family of Italian Catholic immigrants. His origin could not be more humble, since his father was a trouser presser. Later he would be in charge of that task in the films of his son, who defends that nobody ironed collars like him. Marty was an asthmatic and ailing child who spent most of his time at home, observing reality through the window. When he was in good health he would spend numerous afternoons at the movies, becoming obsessed with the movies. It can be said that he is part of a generation of filmmakers, along with his friends Brian De Palma , George Lucas and Steven Spielberg .. The boy spent a long time considering going to the seminary to be a priest, but on the advice of a priest friend he ended up opting for the cinema.

In the early 1960s, aspiring filmmakers went through college, and Marty was no less, attending New York University, graduating with a degree in cinematography in 1964, although he later also did an MFA from the same place. On campus he bumped into Brian De Palma. In 1964, Scorsese married Laraine Brennan, with whom he had a son, although he later divorced, and has had five other partners, including Isabella Rossellini . He immediately began shooting his first shorts and worked as an editor on Woodstock , a documentary about the famous rock concert –another of his great passions– that took place in 1969. Marty knocked on the feature doors for the first time with Who’s Calling My gate? , where he was already presentHarvey Keitel , one of his favorite actors, also making his debut. The film, about the adventures of a young unemployed man from Little Italy, the filmmaker’s childhood neighborhood, contained numerous autobiographical elements, such as the protagonist’s religiosity and passion for cinema. Despite the fact that the development is irregular, it presaged the theme of the later Bad Streets , more rounded.

Convinced that the best way to continue learning his trade was to shoot as many films as possible, Marty agreed to take charge of one of the productions of Roger Corman , king of series B, willing to welcome film students to his production company who those who did not care did not charge for their work. Corman commissioned a substitute for Bonnie and Clyde , which in 1967 he had swept the screens. In this way he passed the script for Bertha’s Train, based on the true story of Boxcar Bertha, a union member who joined a gang of robbers. Apart from the fact that Corman’s productions have a certain charm for lovers of flaky by-products, the truth is that in this film nothing presages Marty’s later brilliant career, except a violent slaughter.

His first major film was Mean Streets . The title comes from a phrase by Raymond Chandler : “A man has to show his face in those mean streets.” Specifically, those who have to show their faces are several young people from Little Italy, who are trying to make their way in life. He repeated with Harvey Keitel (Charlie), the nephew of a mobster who leaves him in charge of a restaurant, and for the first time he worked with his favorite, Robert De Niro (Johnny), a street thug who owes money to a dangerous thug.

Following Alicia Doesn’t Live Here Anymore , for which Ellen Burstyn won the Lead Actress Oscar, Scorsese reunited De Niro and Keitel in Taxi Driver , which marked his meeting with screenwriter Paul Schrader . Awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the film has just consecrated Scorsese who describes the loneliness of a misfit Vietnam veteran, who works as a taxi driver to take advantage of his sleepless nights. The most striking aspect of the film was its gritty, realistic treatment of violence, the most recurring theme in Scorsese’s filmography.

Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli , with whom the director had a brief affair, starred in New York, New York , his excellent foray into the musical. There was also a lot of music in The Last Waltz , his celebrated documentary about The Band, a famous ensemble. He once again collaborated with Schrader on Raging Bull , a ‘biopic’ of boxer Jake LaMotta, which is undoubtedly one of the heavyweights of his filmography. Shot with suggestive black and white photography, it emphasizes the search for redemption of a self-conscious character. The Academy nominated Scorsese for the Oscar for best director for the first time, although the golden statuette would resist him for a quarter of a century, because after seven more nominations, he finally obtained it for The Departed , from 2006.

The king of comedy did not get the impact it deserved. This underappreciated film might have been more appreciated today, as it criticizes the excessive obsession with fame, focusing on the insane idolatry of an aspiring comedian who comes to kidnap the star he admires. After the excellent Jo, what a night! , entertainment as light as it is hilarious, close to surrealism, the rest of the 80s was irregular. The Color of Money brought back Eddie Felson, the central character of The Hustler , but although it was shot with enormous skill, it hardly added anything to the original. After the controversy The Last Temptation of Christ , and an dispensable episode of the long collectiveIn New York Stories , Scorsese filmed an episode of the Amazing Tales series and the Bad video clip , for Michael Jackson , which narrated the confrontation between two street gangs. The filmmaker once again obtained the majority support of the public with his films about the world of the mafia, Goodfellas and Casino , with brutal violence and very similar structures and characters. One of his best works is The Age of Innocence , based on Edith Wharton ‘s novel, which describes New York high society at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite a couple of disappointing titles, Kundun and Full Throttle, Scorsese seems to have begun a stage of inspiration marked by his association with Leonardo DiCaprio , with whom he first worked on Gangs of New York , about the organized gangs that existed in the city at the end of the 19th century. Rounder is The Aviator , a portrait of magnate Howard Hughes . Scorsese and DiCaprio repeated for the third time in The Departed , a millimeter remake of Foul Play (2002) , a surprising thriller made in Hong Kong. The filmmaker has shot a documentary about the Rolling Stones, taking up his passion for rock. Delighted with the experience, he has announced that he will work alongside the band’s leader, Mick Jagger , onThe Long Play , a fictional feature film about the world of music.