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Top 10 Martin Scorsese

Heavyweight director Martin Scorsese burst onto the film scene in 1973 with Mean Streets, and since then has continued to carve out reputable career as one of Hollywood's most talented directors. With American-Italian actor Robert De Niro as his muse, Scorsese has given us some of the finest films in cinema history. Read our Top 10 favourites here...

His Top 10 Films

Mean Streets (1973)

Scorsese’s defining moment came at the age of 31, when his eighth film Mean Streets was put into production. Having previously worked on projects such as Boxcar Bertha and Street Scenes, Scorsese was given little free reign to work his magic. That is, until he was urged by his peers to finish the script for this gritty crime-drama. With a meagre budget at his disposal, Scorsese sourced the soundtrack purely from his own collection and used hand-held cameras to capture each scene. It also marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between newcomer Robert De Niro and the Italian-American director.

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Taxi Driver (1976)

In 1976 Scorsese reunited with actor De Niro and Harvey Keitel (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) to make the Oscar-nominated, Taxi Driver. The producers had originally approached Brian De Palma (Scarface) to direct the film, but when they saw Scorsese and De Niro’s collaboration in Mean Streets, they quickly changed their minds. Scorsese has since revealed that the infamous “You talkin’ to me?” scene was inspired by Marlon Brando mouthing into a mirror, in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967). During that same scene, Scorsese positioned himself below the mirror off camera, to antagonise De Niro for full effect.

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Raging Bull (1980)

The Oscar-winning Raging Bull was Scorsese and De Niro’s fourth collaboration. After reading up on boxer champion turned comedian, Jake LaMotta, DeNiro called Scorsese to put the film into motion. It took years before Scorsese finally agreed to come on board, but the producers weren’t as easily persuaded. The general feeling was that LaMotta’s character wouldn’t appeal to the masses, so the dynamic duo got to work on an un-credited re-write of the script. The film was originally meant to be shot in colour, but it is rumoured that the vibrancy of De Niro’s gloves were a notable distraction from the impact of the fighting scenes.

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The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

In what was his second Oscar nomination for Best Director (his first for Raging Bull), Scorsese happily courted controversy, much to the outcry of Christian activist groups. The film took a wide stance from the Bible, citing its content as fictional and in no way based on gospel writing. A scene depicting Jesus and Mary Magdalene in the throws of passion particularly enraged religious groups. Ironically however, Scorsese is rumoured to have banned all the actors from smoking on set, so the press couldn’t get their paws on photos of biblical characters chewing on cigarettes.

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Goodfellas (1990)

Inspired by D.W. Griffith’s The Musketeers of Pig Alley, Scorsese channelled his love for the crime genre into the gangster adaptation, Goodfellas - starring De Niro, his Raging bull side-kick Joe Pesci and newcomer Ray Liotta. Based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguy, the film is synonymous with un-scripted edits, which Scorsese later pieced together in post production. The most famously improvised scene, where Joes Pesci screams as Ray Liotta, “You think I’m funny?” won Joe Pesci an Oscar, while Scorsese bagged his third Oscar nomination for the gangster flick.

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The Age of Innocence (1993)

Scorsese dedicated the Age of Innocence to his father, who died just before the film was complete. Based on the novel by Edith Wharton, the story is set in the 1870s and follows a betrothed lawyer (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he falls madly in love with someone else (Michelle Pfeiffer). Described by critics as uncharacteristically Scorsese, the Italian-American director often laughs that this is his most violent film – referring to the psychological and emotional conflicts which occur, rather than the bloodshed evident in most of his films. Scorsese won another Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for his writing in 1994.

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Casino (1995)

Three years after his collaboration with author Nicholas Pileggi, Scorsese returned to the non-fiction writer for help on another gangster inspired project he was working on. Set in the 80s, Casino sees the familiar duo of De Niro and Pesci as hot shot mobsters in Las Vegas. Scorsese sparked controversy for the use of graphically violent scenes and swearing, but his foul-mouthed and heavy handed approach to film making paid off. Not only was Casino well received by critics, but lead actress Sharon Stone also walked away with an Oscar-nomination for her performance as Ginger McKenna. .

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Gangs of New York (2002)

When the idea for Gangs of New York was originally conceived in 1978, Scorsese considered Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi for the parts of Amsterdam Vallon and Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting. But when Belushi died the project was put on hold. Later, both Mel Gibson and Willem Dafoe were placed in the running, but it was Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis who made the final cut. The film was nominated for a whopping 10 Oscars but unfortunately didn’t win any. Daniel Day-Lewis did however walk away with a BAFTA that same year

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The Aviator (2004)

The Aviator marked Scorsese’s second time working with Leonardo DiCaprio, after their collaboration on Gangs of New York. The film, which follows the life of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, spans three decades from the 20s through to the 30s and 40s. Through digitally enhanced post-production Scorsese manipulated the visual quality of the film, so it mirrored film-making styles from each decade. Michael Mann was reportedly approached to direct this epic, but he decided to hand the baton to Scorsese and take on the role of producer instead. This film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, five of which it won.

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The Departed (2006)

A remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, The Departed is Scorsese’s third film to debut at number one in the box office chart, taking over $26million in its opening weekend. Scorsese enlisted the help of an all-star cast, including Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro to make this film. But De Niro dropped out due to commitments on The Good Shepherd. As a time-honoured veteran of film, Scorsese decided to dedicate this film to crime-genre directors, Robert Aldrich, Samuel Fuller and Don Siegel. The film scooped four Oscars, marking Scorsese’s first win for directing.

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Jennifer Trevorrow