On November 17th, Martin Scorsese turns 80. Yeah, I know, blows your mind when you think about it. It feels like it was just yesterday that he was in his 50s and entering his big-studio movie phase with “Gangs of New York”.
The Guardian has interviewed filmmakers to talk about Scorsese: the man, the myth, the legend. They’ve also, in the process, decided to call him the “greatest director alive.” A bold statement, when bestowed on, really, any filmmaker. Maybe Scorsese does in fact deserve that title.
Can any other filmmaker working today match a filmography that includes “Taxi Driver,” “Mean Streets,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “The Departed,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “After Hours,” “The King of Comedy,” “The Last Temptation of Christ”? I’m not too sure about that. I guess maybe Coppola comes closest, but he burned out in the early ‘80s, Scorsese is still making worthy movies.
Some interesting observations from The Guardian piece: Woody Allen’s favourite Scorsese is “Goodfellas” Ari Aster believes the last 40 minutes of ‘Last Temptation’ are the most emotionally complex cinema he’s ever seen and, of course, Tim Burton loves the gothic humor in “The King of Comedy.” It’s all well worth a read.