Category Archives: Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese’s Important Films

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Recently the magazine Fast Company conducted a four hour interview with the man I believe to be our greatest living director, Martin Scorsese. As noted in the article, Scorsese mentioned 85 films that influenced him. Of those 85, I was rather surprised to find that only nine are currently available on instant Netflix. Being Scorsese, the list is a little heavy on film noir but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Peeping Tom (1960) – Not rated

“A disturbed filmmaker (Carl Boehm) literally kills with his camera in this ahead-of-its-time shocker from revered British director Michael Powell. Like the same year’s Psycho, this film’s combination of voyeurism, eroticism and horror repelled some 1960 critics, but its cult reputation soared in later years. Moira Shearer (star of Powell’s The Red Shoes) makes an appearance, as does Powell himself (as Boehm’s father in flashback).”

I have previously covered (and recommended) this film. Peeping Tom was well ahead of its time and essentially ended the career of its director, Michael Powell.

Caught (1949) – Not rated

“Looking for a means to rise above her station, struggling model Leonora Eames (Barbara Bel Geddes) marries millionaire Smith Ohlrig (Robert Ryan) — a character reportedly based on Howard Hughes — but her hopes are soon dashed when she discovers his sadistic ways. Leonora tires of being a kept woman and goes to work for a kind doctor (James Mason), who wins her heart. But Smith isn’t about to let his trophy wife escape without a fight.”

The Hustler (1961) – Not rated

“Paul Newman scores as pool shark “Fast Eddie” Felson, who tours the country hustling games — even challenging reigning champion Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) — in this brooding drama that explores the synergies between good and evil, love and desperation. The film won a pair of Oscars for its cinematography and art direction, while Newman and Gleason both earned Academy Award nominations for their performances. Piper Laurie co-stars.”

Not only influential but Martin Scorsese directed the sequel to this, The Color of Money (starring Tom Cruise and Paul Newman).

I Walk Alone (1948) – Not rated

“Frankie Madison (Burt Lancaster), just out of prison, expects to pick up his bootlegging racket right where he left off. Unfortunately, his former partner, Noll Turner (Kirk Douglas), now a successful nightclub owner, has other ideas. Frankie turns to Noll’s girlfriend, torch singer Kay (Lizabeth Scott), and hatches a scheme to bring down Big Business for good. Can Frankie’s Prohibition-era strong-arm tactics get the job done?”

Midnight Cowboy (1969) – Rated R

“To earn cash as a freelance sex stud and work toward his dream of becoming a kept man, hayseed hustler Joe Buck heads to New York City, where an improbable friendship blossoms when he meets seedy con man Ratso Rizzo.”

One, Two, Three (1961)

“Director Billy Wilder’s Cold War farce comes off at a breakneck pace that will leave your head spinning. C.J. McNamara (James Cagney) is a Coca-Cola executive who travels to Berlin to promote the product on the other side of the Iron Curtain. But he soon learns that his real job is baby-sitting his boss’s teenage daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin), who has secretly married volatile Communist Otto Piffl (Horst Bucholz).”

Senso (Livia) (1954) – Not rated

“Italian Countess Livia Serpieri (Alida Valli), whose family leads an underground resistance during the Austrian occupation of Italy, risks her marriage, family, friends and political standing when she gives in to her lust for Austrian Lt. Franz Mahler (Farley Granger). Set in the late 19th century, director Luchino Visconti’s luxurious, emotionally charged film is an adaptation of Camillo Boito’s novella Senso”

The Third Man (1949) – Not rated

“After arriving in post-World War II Vienna, unemployed pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) learns that his friend Harry (Orson Welles) has died in an accident. Compelled to investigate the death, Holly slowly uncovers startling revelations about Harry’s life. Based on a novel by Graham Greene, this classic film noir thriller earned an Academy Award nomination for director Carol Reed and won an Oscar for Best Cinematography.”

The Trial (Le Proces) (1962) – Not rated

“Director Orson Welles’s brilliant adaptation of Franz Kafka’s existential novel casts Anthony Perkins as Josef K, a bank clerk who finds himself at the mercy of a powerful and bizarre judicial system when he’s arrested for an unnamed crime. In his efforts to exonerate himself, the bewildered Josef becomes ensnared in a ponderous maze of bureaucratic camouflage and faceless courtrooms. Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider and Elsa Martinelli co-star.”

Taxi Driver – Robert De Niro week

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Augh! Pardon the delay in posting this as we’ve been having a few internet issues over the weekend. This week I’d like to celebrate one of our great American actors – Robert De Niro. Netflix has a slew of instant movies featuring De Niro including the Martin Scorsese classic Taxi Driver.

Taxi Driver

WATCH: Taxi Driver (1976) – Rated R

“Martin Scorsese crafts a violently prophetic, gripping vision of urban decay and insanity in which mentally unstable Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) drives a cab through the sleaziest streets of pregentrified New York City and befriends a child hooker (Jodie Foster). The groundbreaking film earned four Oscar nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Score, and for De Niro and Foster’s haunting performances.”

“Thank God for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk.”

Martin Scorsese’s camerawork and composition here is not as polished as most of his later works. This actually works for the film as too much trickery would have detracted from the raw power of this descent into madness. There is still some great cinematography of 1970s New York and a nice interior building 360 early on in the film.

The performances are excellent. Robert De Niro carries the film and almost every scene in the movie is centered on him. Jodie Foster’s supporting performance as the 12-year-old prostitute, Iris is superb – particularly coming from a child actor. Both were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. Cybil Shepherd is wonderful as Betsy as is Albert Brooks in a non-comedic role as her friend Tom. Harvey Keitel was offered the Albert Brooks role but turned it down in favor of the much smaller role as Sport the pimp and he is superb.

Paul Schrader’s script is wonderful and logical up until the climax. He is excellent with scripts involving the seedy side of life (Hardcore, Rolling Thunder, Light Sleeper). Scorsese changed the roles of the pimp, the hotel manager, and the Mafioso to white people. This was a very wise decision because otherwise it would have seemed that Travis was simply a racist which would have blunted the whole thrust of the film. Reportedly Travis’ famous monologue in front of the mirror was ad-libbed by De Niro.

This was brilliant composer Bernard Herrmann’s last score. It is mostly composed of soft jazz with some sad soulful saxophone mixed in. With the exception of some of the post-denouement music which is a bit too jarring, his score here is excellent (as befits an Oscar nomination). Bernard Herrmann’s first job as composer was on Citizen Kane for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He is perhaps best known for his Harryhausen and Hitchcock films. Taxi Driver was dedicated to him.

This film is an absolute classic. You can view it as a harrowing descent into madness or simply as a treatise on loneliness. If you haven’t seen it yet and want to see an actor’s showcase then by all means I highly recommend this film. As for the very odd ending – remember that the story is told from Travis Bickle’s point-of-view and that the events following the denouement may have a rather different explanation.

People Watch: Martin Scorsese has a brief  but pivotal role as a psychotic passenger. Scorsese’s parents portray Iris’ parents in a photograph.