Director Spotlight: Martin Scorsese
The Irishman hits Netflix soon, but here's some of Marty's best you can watch on there right now
There aren’t many names in movie history that can measure up to Martin Scorsese. The legendary filmmaker has created some of the most indelible characters, moments, and stories ever put to screen. His directorial career contains classics in every decade since the 70s, as well as several underrated lesser-known works.
On Wednesday, November 27th his latest film The Irishman hits Netflix (it’s in theaters now). Any new Scorsese picture is a significant cinematic event, but especially this one. The Irishman is Scorsese’s return to the gangster genre that holds so many of his best films, like Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Casino, and The Departed. His old muse Robert De Niro is starring with Al Pacino (first time in a Scorsese movie), Joe Pesci (who has rarely appeared on screen in the last 20 years), Anna Paquin, Jesse Plemons and more. It’s been garnering huge praise and Oscar buzz since it premiered almost two months ago.
The Irishman looks like an unforgettable experience so we are preparing you with the best of Scorsese on streaming at the moment. Now go home and get your shinebox, and join us in the Scorsese-verse.
Drew recommends…
Taxi Driver (streaming on Netflix)
You may have noticed Joker has been nothing less than a sensation this year. It’s easily the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, crossing $1 billion at the global box office, and it could be a major Oscar contender as well. Joker’s biggest inspiration is Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic about isolation and anxiety. The influences are obvious in Joker, from the casting of Robert De Niro to the depiction of Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) isolated existence as he spirals into violence and madness. The “finger gun” gesture we see in Joker multiple times is an even more direct link to Taxi Driver.
Joker director Todd Phillips wanted to make a gritty 1970s-style picture and using the comic book template was the easiest way to do that in 2019, but often his homages to Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, Network, and others feel more like rip-offs that reveal a lack of original vision. Taxi Driver, on the other hand, continues to astound and provoke over 40 years later. If we’re talking about the very best Scorsese film, for me it’s either this or Goodfellas.
Screenwriter Paul Schrader wrote Taxi Driver in a lonesome drug-fueled haze while living in New York City. He conjured up Travis Bickle (De Niro), an alienated Vietnam vet that becomes a cab driver. In voiceovers, we hear Bickle’s mind deteriorate. He describes himself as “God’s lonely man” who wants to cleanse the New York City streets of all the sin and filth that he can’t stand. Bickle becomes enamored with Betsy, a campaign volunteer for a presidential candidate. When he messes up on their date she rejects him, so he then turns his attention to Iris (Jodie Foster), a young prostitute that he decides needs to be freed from her pimp.
To fully become Bickle on screen, De Niro prepared by getting his taxi driver’s license to drive around the city as a cabbie for a few weeks. He’s so committed and naturalistic in the role (“You talkin’ to me?”) that it would be impossible to imagine anyone else pulling it off. It’s one of those timeless acting performances that will be played in award montages for decades. Similarly, Jodie Foster is a revelation in this movie. Although only 12 at the time of filming, she is fully compelling in an extremely tricky role. In fact, just a few years later a delusional man named John Hinckley Jr. claimed his attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981 was to impress Foster after seeing her in Taxi Driver.
If the acting lends stunning realism to the movie, the score heightens the mood to operatic levels. Before he died, famous film composer Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Citizen Kane) turned in his final score on Taxi Driver, masterfully alternating between the ominous and the romantic.
Scorsese draws all of these elements together to create a gripping character study. Taxi Driver is subjective filmmaking at its finest. We see the city and its people through Travis Bickle’s eyes, which means we see it as grimy and irredeemable. I’ve never seen a film so successfully place you in the head of its main character. So when the violence finally erupts, the audience is stunned and shaken free from the perspective of this sick man that considers himself a hero. That’s not really the case in Joker.
If you liked Joker, then you should definitely see Taxi Driver. I found myself impressed with the unsettling nature of this Batman villain origin story (as well as Phoenix’s outstanding performance), while also recognizing its limitations. You can find better writers than myself that compare the two, but for me where Joker doesn’t hold up to Scorsese’s masterpiece is in how they understand their central characters. Joker psychoanalyzes a character that didn’t really need a backstory in the first place, while Taxi Driver allows its bold vision of a troubled mind to play out with patience and depth. Leonardo DiCaprio said it best when describing what makes this film so great: You may find yourself identifying with Travis Bickle, and then suddenly you don’t.
Gangs of New York (streaming on Netflix)
It’s a real testament to Scorsese’s brilliant decades-long career that Gangs of New York, which would be most directors’ magnum opus, is his, like, eleventh best movie. Just because it doesn’t crack my personal Scorsese Top 10 doesn’t mean the epic Gangs of New York isn’t worthy of discussion though. This is a crackerjack piece of historical entertainment with immaculately realized costumes, sets, and world-building.
The plot charts the rise of the American criminal underworld -- and the ethnic clashes that accompanied it -- in New York City during the mid-1800s. Daniel Day-Lewis is gang leader William Cutting aka “Bill the Butcher,” a knife-wielding anti-immigrant terror that killed Amsterdam Vallon’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) father in 1846. Sixteen years later, Amsterdam has returned to the neighborhood for revenge.
Day-Lewis gives a titanic performance as Bill the Butcher, one of his very best in a career full of tremendous turns. He displays menace and charisma in equal parts. His nomination for Best Actor that year was one of Gangs of New York’s ten nods (although it failed to win any of them). Unfortunately, we don’t get one of DiCaprio’s best performances even if he is still pretty effective as the young avenger. His love interest is played by a miscast Cameron Diaz, who appears out of place as the street-smart Jenny Everdeane. The two share precious little chemistry and Day-Lewis’ outsized presence blows them off the screen. This is an example of one of those times when Day-Lewis was simply too good.
Scorsese has often been known as an incredibly energetic director and Gangs of New York benefits from the stylish moves that he brings to the film. Somehow he’s able to accomplish this without over-stylizing the violence, which is rightfully intense and visceral instead of detached and cartoonish. The scale of this production was massive, as its $100 million budget far outpaced any previous Scorsese project, but Marty was still able to ensure that his directorial vision didn’t get lost despite the size and scope. While watching Gangs of New York it’s easy to see that Scorsese just really loves moviemaking. It’s this passion and energy that comes through so strong in most of his work, but especially here.
Billy recommends…
Mean Streets (streaming on Netflix)
Once an indie movie that thrust a no-name director into the spotlight has turned into “Oh ya, that’s a Scorsese movie.” All of Mean Streets has the familiar feeling of a Scorsese movie, but revisiting what made him so iconic is a blast. So let’s explore, what makes him so iconic?
He creates fast dialogue in the majority of his movies, specifically his gangster flicks. A bunch of male bravado trying to show how big their ding-a-lings are. The obvious trope being quick-witted responses leading to an overflow of boiled tension. Brilliant music sprinkled throughout to help the quick pace slow down to an easy glide. Long tracking shots give the actors the screen time necessary to portray what Scorsese has given them. All of which hides the themes in the back of the audience's brain and is instantly in the forefront of their minds once the movie is turned off.
Early movies by Marty and later movies by Marty have commonality. The early version allowed for exploration into spiritual insecurities. Early on he had freedom to create themes he wanted to explore and after being successful he needed to earn the right to explore those feelings again. Mean Streets has a wonderful early scene that explores the main character Charlie’s (Harvey Keitel) uncertainty about his confession and subsequent penance in the Catholic church. It is something that he believes, but also disagrees with the church’s method to gain forgiveness. All of which leads into an incredible search for one’s self, the temptations along the way, and the community that makes one feel welcome. No matter the escapades they get up to.
The latter aspect being a subject that is often not explored. A sense of community can be meaningful while also being an unknown negative. In Goodfellas there is the classic line, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Mean Streets has a far less iconic line, but just as poignant. “You don’t make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it.” This shows how the wrongdoings these characters consistently do does not matter to them because the sense of community is so strong and reliable.
Scorsese does not let his message bore the audience. He thrusts it into an entertaining story and characters. Which is the point of these picture shows, right? Bring forward heavy themes while creating an atmosphere to digest it all. Mean Streets is a prime example of an experience that turns the viewers brain off for two hours, but once someone has a chance to think about it is clear what Marty is trying to say.
This is all said to convince the three readers Drew and I have to watch Mean Streets while they can. Turning on Mean Streets will lead to dissecting the subject matter that Scorsese presents and you will have an exciting two hour ride. Creating an entertaining experience that lingers once the movie is turned off.
Recent Release Mini-Reviews
Parasite (in theaters now)
Drew: What is Parasite, exactly? That’s a tough one. Is it a dark comedy? A suspenseful thriller? A tragic family story? Ultimately, all that matters is that this South Korean film is one of the best things you’ll see this year -- or any year. This is unpredictable high quality entertainment dipped in social critique, which is exactly what director Bong Joon-ho has always done so remarkably well in past films like Snowpiercer and Okja. Parasite sharply veers around a few unexpected turns while simultaneously causing you to ponder class struggle, family, and capitalism. Masterclass movies like this don’t come around all that often, so just sit back and let Parasite delight, surprise, and arrest you with its vision and virtuosity. - 4.5 out of 5 apples
See more reviews on our Letterboxd page
Links to get you hyped
Don’t look now but awards season is already here. Yesterday the Indie Spirit Awards announced their nominations, and some of our favorites from this year made the cut, including The Lighthouse and The Last Black Man in San Francisco.
Harrison Ford has signed on for a TV series called The Staircase, adapted from the famous true crime docuseries of the same name. We already know he’s good at yelling, “I didn’t kill my wife!”
And finally, to take you into your weekend in horrifying fashion, we present a new trailer for the upcoming musical CATS.
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