Mr. Scorsese

Many other documentaries about artists or creative people tends to put the focus on the person itself and the private life with the work as framework. Not this one. His filmmaking is the narrative much like the HBO documentary about Spielberg. Of course there is some marriage mentioned and some childhood memories but most of the time it's the filmmaking in focus. Five episodes it's almost not enough to go through this man's work.

A near excellent documentary except for the odd and unfortunate omission of Hugo, a cinematic spellbinder about a little boy tasked with oiling and regulating the clocks in a Paris train station all the while eluding the police, working on his automaton, and solving the identity of the mysterious toy seller. The mysterious toy seller turns out to be the early pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès. Anyone who knows anything about Martin Scorcese, knows he is a passionate film scholar. This story from a book by Brian Selznick must have captured Mr. Scorcese's heart for two reasons, the historic film plot, and that he could make a movie his young daughter could see. Hugo is a masterpiece that did not do well at the box office, about which I make no comment about underestimating the intelligence of the public.

For the glaring omission of Hugo, I give the documentary an 8.

Martin Scorcese gets an 11.

Always leave them wanting more, another 5 episodes would not have felt too much. An absorbing and gripping exploration through the work of the greatest director of them all. The last episode is aptly named Method Director, and it hadn't occurred to me in this way before, but it is exactly what he is. Beautifully documented by Rebecca Miller and interviews with just about everyone who have ever had the fortune of working with him, offering their love and gratitude. They should dedicate an entire season at the local cinema just for his movies.

My Rating : 9/10

Brilliantly directed/interviewed by Rebecca Miller, Mr. Scorsese is an homage to one of the great living American directors. Of course, we have to talk about his asthma. Aside from that, growing up in a violent neighbourhood with his father taking him to the movies ignited the young Marty's mind toward the magical realism of the movies. The great thing about watching this documentary is that you can watch scenes from multiple great movies if you are severely time-restricted and not in the mood for a full movie-screening. Violence is explored in a personal, intimate way since Marty is known for it specifically so definitely the interviewer goads at it constantly to get to the truth of the matter, or origins perhaps. He didn't grow up with books unfortunately. His internal adolescent rebellion is seen here, his ambitiousness for a future for himself is motivational. Haig Manoogian his film professor's passion really proved a serious turning point. Also, the rebellion he had as an Hollywood outsider is indicated.

1 Recommender.

The hungry N. Y. U. Student years; the early violent Italian era and later violent Italian era; the almost indie years of the eighties; the concert films; the genre experimentation of the nineties and post-millenium; oodles of interviews with everybody who knew him. If you don't walk away from this series with a keener understanding of a director whose singular obsession with cinema is matched only by Spielberg, you haven't been paying attention. The ultimate tribute to the ultimate director, Mr. Martin Scorsese.