So you want to make your own Martin Scorsese from scratch? Well, just follow this easy little recipe and in no time you could have your own personal bushy-browed Italian genius at your side…
1 PART ASTHMA, for knowledge. As a child, Scorsese was plagued by terrible asthma, so much so that he could never really play outside or enjoy sports with his fellow classmates. This was a blessing in disguise, however, as rather than spend those summer days playing in the water of the fire hydrant, Marty was catching double and triple features at the local cinema day after day, soaking in the knowledge that, these days, makes him America’s most revered cinema historian. This knowledge of film carries throughout every one if his features.
3 PARTS CATHOLIC GUILT, for drive. Scorsese’s early life, and even as he grew into an older man, was centered on his strong Catholic background. Catholicism is in every film he has ever made, in one way or another, from The Last Temptation of Christ to Taxi Driver. The approaches to women, to guilt, and to salvation are ideas Scorsese works cathartically through every one of his pictures.
2 PARTS ISOLATION, for the lead. The characters at the center of Marty’s pictures are all suffering from a sense of isolation, be it Max Cady in Cape Fear, or even Nick Nolte’s crooked lawyer in the same film. From top to bottom, when you find the focus of a Scorsese film, there you will find a character looking to make a connection.
2 PARTS ROCK AND ROLL, for mood. Before Junior Walker sang Shotgun in Who’s That Knockin’ at My Door?, before Jumpin’ Jack Flash introduced Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, rock and roll was not used as the soundtrack in movies. Marty changed the use of music in film to interpret mood and place forever.
1 PART EITHER ROBERT DENIRO OR LEONARDO DICAPRIO, for collaboration. Sure, Marty has made pictures without one of the two in the lead roles, but when you think of his films, the first handful (at least) of pictures that come to mind are ones in which either of these two powerful screen presences are in the lead roles. While he may use DeNiro or Dicaprio primarily in the leads, the stability in the primary role allows him to bring in any number of great actors and actresses in supporting roles.
3 PARTS THELMA SCHOONMAKER, for balance. Schoonmaker is perhaps the most well known editor in Hollywood, mostly because she has worked with Scorsese on every one of his films since Raging Bull, winning the Academy Award three times, for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed. Without Schoonmaker in the editing room alongside Marty, some of those most memorable montages and sequences in films like The Departed, Goodfellas, The Aviator, and the dynamite boxing scenes in Raging Bull, may not have carried the same sort of resonance throughout the years.
1 PART ASTHMA, for knowledge. As a child, Scorsese was plagued by terrible asthma, so much so that he could never really play outside or enjoy sports with his fellow classmates. This was a blessing in disguise, however, as rather than spend those summer days playing in the water of the fire hydrant, Marty was catching double and triple features at the local cinema day after day, soaking in the knowledge that, these days, makes him America’s most revered cinema historian. This knowledge of film carries throughout every one if his features.
3 PARTS CATHOLIC GUILT, for drive. Scorsese’s early life, and even as he grew into an older man, was centered on his strong Catholic background. Catholicism is in every film he has ever made, in one way or another, from The Last Temptation of Christ to Taxi Driver. The approaches to women, to guilt, and to salvation are ideas Scorsese works cathartically through every one of his pictures.
2 PARTS ISOLATION, for the lead. The characters at the center of Marty’s pictures are all suffering from a sense of isolation, be it Max Cady in Cape Fear, or even Nick Nolte’s crooked lawyer in the same film. From top to bottom, when you find the focus of a Scorsese film, there you will find a character looking to make a connection.
2 PARTS ROCK AND ROLL, for mood. Before Junior Walker sang Shotgun in Who’s That Knockin’ at My Door?, before Jumpin’ Jack Flash introduced Johnny Boy in Mean Streets, rock and roll was not used as the soundtrack in movies. Marty changed the use of music in film to interpret mood and place forever.
1 PART EITHER ROBERT DENIRO OR LEONARDO DICAPRIO, for collaboration. Sure, Marty has made pictures without one of the two in the lead roles, but when you think of his films, the first handful (at least) of pictures that come to mind are ones in which either of these two powerful screen presences are in the lead roles. While he may use DeNiro or Dicaprio primarily in the leads, the stability in the primary role allows him to bring in any number of great actors and actresses in supporting roles.
3 PARTS THELMA SCHOONMAKER, for balance. Schoonmaker is perhaps the most well known editor in Hollywood, mostly because she has worked with Scorsese on every one of his films since Raging Bull, winning the Academy Award three times, for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed. Without Schoonmaker in the editing room alongside Marty, some of those most memorable montages and sequences in films like The Departed, Goodfellas, The Aviator, and the dynamite boxing scenes in Raging Bull, may not have carried the same sort of resonance throughout the years.
***Combine ingredients, bake at 350 for an hour, and serve warm with ONE BEST DIRECTOR OSCAR for best results. If you prefer, you could add two additional Oscars to make your at-home Marty the way it should be made. Enjoy…
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