In yesterday’s Best Consecutive Great Movie Streaks debate, a few people mentioned why Martin Scorsese’s 21st century streak of films were mentioned and not some of the runs he had in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.
Quite simply put, after “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver,” the nadir of his career, “New York, New York” was released. That broke the streak. Then “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” and “After Hours” put him back on track .. that trio was followed by “The Color of Money,” a more-than-decent sequel to “The Hustler,” but not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination.
You can probably make a very good case for Scorsese’s career rejuvenation, starting with 1999’s underrated “Bringing Out the Dead,” all the way to 2019’s “The Irishman.” A 20-year-run of good to excellent films. There has been no “Kundun,” “Boxcar Bertha,” or “New York, New York” type of failure during that streak.
In fact, Scorsese now seems to be more comfortable working within the confines of the studio system, even after the infamous creative fighting he had with Harvey Weinstein on “Gangs of New York.” For the most part, major studios now give Scorsese “final cut” and he’s taken advantage of his legendary name to shoot a handful of decade-long passion projects —
“Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Shutter Island,” “Hugo,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Silence” and “The Irishman.”
Nine films. Of course, you won’t get a consensus on all of these actually being great films. The George Melies scenes in “Hugo” are brilliant, but the kid stuff is mezzo-mezzo. I was underwhelmed by “The Aviator” upon first viewing, but subsequent watches have made me realize how it’s a fascinating treatise on mental illness.
Fact of the matter is that Scorsese’s 21st century output is, for the most part, well respected, but I occasionally run into the odd person (and they definitely exist) who believe Scorsese lost his touch after the ‘90s. These are absolute purists who bow down to the Church of Scorsese, from Mean Streets to Casino, but vehemently dislike his 21st century big studio phase. They don’t believe Scorsese can ever come close to making another masterpiece like “Raging Bull,” “Mean Streets,” “Goodfellas,” and “Taxi Driver.”
My own opinion? These past 20 years, Scorsese has released, at least, two stone-cold classics that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his very best films: “The Departed” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” These are two films that retain his auteur voice and encapsulate everything we love dear about the man; the excess, the violence, the stylized narrative etc.