Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Flushing, New York. Through most of his life, his chosen career goal was to be a priest. However, he later had a change of heart, and decided instead to become a filmmaker. In 1964, he graduated from New York University from the film program. During the rest of the 60's, Scorsese made various student films, eventually becoming an assistant director and co-editor of the documentary Woodstock in 1970. This film, along with his others, caught the eye of veteran low budget producer Roger Corman. In 1972, Scorsese directed Boxcar Bertha for Corman. In 1973, he followed that up with his amazing feature, Mean Streets. As Walter Melnyk pointed out, that film provided benchmarks for the Scorsese Style: New York settings, loners struggling with inner demons, pointed-shoes rock meets opera soundtracks, and unrelenting cathartic violence.

In 1974, Scorsese directed Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore which earned Ellen Burstyn a Best Actress Academy Award. In 1976, Scorsese directed the film for which he is probably most famous for, the ultra-violent Taxi Driver which drew controversy after it inspired John Hinckley's assasination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981. In 1980, Scorsese made another film with Robert De Niro, Raging Bull. The film was an amazing, black and white biography of middleweight fighter Jake LaMotta which earned two Academy Awards. One for Best Actor - Robert De Niro, and one for Best Editing - Thelma Schoonmaker. Later, it was selected as best film of the decade by film critics, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. His next few works were King of Comedy in 1983 with Robert De Niro, After Hours in 1985, and in 1986, Paul Newman earned an Academy Award for his reprisal of the role of gambler Eddie Felson in The Color of Money. His next film was probably his most controversial to date, The Last Temptation of Christ which outraged some religious groups by attempting to portray a human son of God. In 1990, he directed the excellent film, GoodFellas. In 1991, he directed a remake of Cape Fear, a remake of the classic 1961 film. In 1993, he directed The Age of Innocence. Casino, his epic about the rise and fall of a mob figure in Las Vegas was released in 1995. In 1999, Scorsese released Bringing Out the Dead, an adaptation of Joseph Connelly's novel about an overworked, stressed ambulance driver fighting insanity. Scorsese has stayed busy over the years, directing Gangs of New York in 2002, and The Aviator in 2004, with The Departed scheduled for release in 2006, with an incredible cast, consisting of such talent as Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio (a Scorsese favorite of late), Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, and Alec Baldwin, and a great story concept, being of cross spies, one being in the Boston Police Department, and the other being in the Irish Mafia in Boston.

Martin has never won an Academy Award, however, in 1997, he was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.

 


"I only wanted to be an ordinary parish priest." - Martin Scorsese


Table Of Contents

  • The Holy Grail of Scorsese
  • -Cabbin' Fever- A great article about Taxi Driver
  • -Acceptance Speech- Scorsese's Acceptance Speech for the John Huston Award
  • -John Bryant Tribute- Congressman John Bryant (D-TX)Tribute to Martin Scorsese at the John Huston Award for Artists Rights dinner
  • -Scorsese Influence on Others- A message that passed through the Scorsese mailing list about how Scorsese's films have affected the author's life.
  • The Screenplays
  • After Hours - Transcript
  • Age of Innocence - Transcript
  • The Aviator - Script
  • Cape Fear - Transcript
  • Casino - Transcript
  • Color of Money - Transcript
  • Gangs of New York - Screenplay
  • Goodfellas - Transcript
  • King of Comedy - Transcript
  • Kundun - Transcript
  • Last Temptation of Christ - Transcript
  • The Last Waltz - Transcript
  • Raging Bull - Transcript
  • Taxi Driver - Transcript
  • Who's That Knocking on My Door - Transcript

    •  

    The Rest of the Series

  • The Independents - Main Page
  • Quentin Tarantino
  • John Woo
  • Robert Rodriguez
  • Drew's Script-O-Rama (Scripts to over 600 films and TV shows)

    •  

    Martin Scorsese, the man, the God.





    This page is ©1996 . All rights reserved.
    All material used on these pages is copyrighted by it's respective copyright holder.

    Main Page Quentin Tarantino Martin Scorsese John Woo Robert Rodriguez