“Letter To Elia” (2010) co-directed with Kent Jones
Martin Scorsese’s documentaries are generally love letters to the subject matter at hand, whether it’s cinema ( “My Voyage to Italy” and “A Personal Journey Through American Movies”), the power of performance (“The Last Waltz” and “Shine A Light”) or the admiration of a musical legacy (“No Direction Home,” “Living in the Material World”). And one of his most personal of these endeavors, even if it was co-directed by former film-critic-turned-Festival-programmer Kent Jones, is “Letter To Elia,” his portrait of the filmmaker Elia Kazan. The venerable director behind “A Streetcar Named Desire” and films like “America, America” and “East Of Eden,” in many ways, one could easily see Kazan’s “On The Waterfront” as a proto-Scorsese film (it’s a picture the filmmaker explores at length in the doc). Scorsese’s fascination with his subject is palpable in all of his usually incisive documentaries, but on Kazan—a man to whom he and Robert De Niro co-presented his Lifetime Achievement Academy Award—one can feel something much beyond simple admiration: a genuine tenderness and warm affection for a man and a filmmaker of whom he was deeply in awe. Only 60 minutes long and only ever aired on PBS (not released in theaters), there’s … something missing to it, as if it was rushed or not quite Scorsese’s project alone (and it’s not, one can argue it is Jones’ film first). So perhaps in that sense it’s something of a minor Scorsese doc, but as but as a heartfelt reflection, an aesthetic appreciation and a rousing analysis of Kazan’s oeuvre, it’s one of Scorsese’s most personal works. [B]
“Public Speaking” (2010)
If most Martin Scorsese documentaries are a type of billet-doux about the subject, then “Public Speaking,” his portrait of iconic (and sardonic) New York writer Fran Lebowitz is more of an esteemed acknowledgement. That isn’t to say Scorsese doesn’t have affection for his subject, like in other docs, it’s just that the filmmaker understands that anything that comes out of her mouth is prime rib. So, moving away from voice-over where he usually describes the passion for his subject, Scorsese simply gets out of Lebowitz’s way. Turning the camera on and letting the mordant and whipsmart social raconteur rip, “Public Speaking” is more of an appreciative tribute to the power of Lebowitz’s ever-so-candid art of conversation. Acerbic and witty, no topic is sacred with Lebowitz, but as the dialogue flows, she also reveals much about herself, her often difficult childhood and what made her such an important New York voice (she’s been called the modern Dorothy Parker several times). “I always said I’m the only Jew in America whose first exposure to an intellectual, it was a black guy,” she quips in the doc about author James Baldwin. “I never met anyone like that in my life and I was mesmerized.” Sprinkled throughout the doc are clips of Lebowitz’s public speaking tours, but perhaps most personal are the anecdotes of a bitter and difficult upbringing with philistine parents who didn’t want her to read, and wanted her seen and not heard. It’s these revealing, never sentimentalized moments where Lebowitz articulates exactly why she went on to live a life centered around the gift of the gab, and Scorsese wisely lets her reveal herself almost unmediated. [B]
“George Harrison: Living in the Material World” (2011)
From seemingly from out of nowhere, Scorsese delivered one of his best and most heartfelt non-fiction projects (his aptitude as a documentarist is often overlooked in favor of his fiction films, but is nonetheless exceptional), a nearly four-hour-long documentary dedicated to the life and times of the former Beatle. Told in a charming stream-of-consciousness style that mixes talking head interviews (with everyone from Paul McCartney to Terry Gilliam) with archival footage and musical interludes, your enjoyment of this sprawling biographical mass isn’t based purely on your love of the Beatles (although your patience with all things related to transcendental meditation could probably help). Instead, Scorsese paints a portrait of a man, in both broad brush strokes and tiny details, who found himself caught up in one of pop culture’s most explosive moments, yet who somehow remained relatively anonymous amongst all that noise. George Harrison is, it turns out, a man of nuance, grace, and intelligence, capable of true selflessness and the type of caring few humans exhibit willingly. Beautifully photographed and just as beautifully put together, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World” is a late-in-his-career crowning achievement, one made all the more powerful by the fact that it was almost a complete surprise. [A-]
Great to see After Hours score a A-. Such an underrated movie.
Correction. Only DeNiro was nominated for Cape Fear. Nolte was also nominated in the same year\’s Oscars but for The Prince Of Tides.
Nick Nolte was nominated in 1991, but for Barbra Streisand\’s "Prince of Tides" and not Cape Fear. Juliette Lewis was the other nominee from that film.
You should include now The Wolf of Wall Street. These are very valuable lists and they should be updated every time a new film comes out.
matt darmon in The Departed. LOL
The films of Martin Scorsese are all "B" movies if you really think about it. Most of the films have a common thread and by that I mean the racial epithets and the violence perpetrated against Black characters in some scenes. If you take away these controversial scenes each movie would lack any substance other than being a poorly conceived and directed mellow drama. Scorsese is an overrated bum.
This is just wrong. Taxi Driver and Goodfellas get A+ but Raging Bull gets only an A. Goodfellas doesn't even hold a candle to the depth and complexity of Raging Bull. It's one of his more over-praised films.
Just started a blog about Scorsese – The Wolf Of Elizabeth Street.
Would love people to have a look and let me know if they agree…
'The Wolf Of Elizabeth Street' – thoughts on Scorsese.
http://sheldrakemovies.wix.com/blog
Another correction: Barbara Hershey wasn't nominated for an Oscar for "Last Temptation of Christ."
I don't understand this list…at all. It's nice that you've awarded two A+s to two of his best films, but why not Raging Bull? How is Mean Streets only an A- and not a straight A? Honestly, reading through all of these, it seems like the contributors don't actually care about Scorsese, or are trying to knock him down a peg. Only a B for Last Temptation of Christ? It seems that in every case in which some critics love a film, while others are indifferent toward it, The Playlist decided to take the indifferent route. Age of Innocence, Casino and Kundun are all better than they're represented here. The Last Waltz only a B? After the totally positive retrospective you did on the Coens, this list makes Scorsese seem like the weaker artist.
What's with all the indifference towards The Age of Innocence still lurking around even after 20 years? That film is a piece of art, never failing to bring tears to my eye after all those viewings over the years in awe of the wonderful direction, set and costume design and not least of all the tragic and impossible love affair between its two lovers achingly brought to life with almost career best performances by its two leads Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day Lewis? A thorough reevaluation is long overdue for that glorious film in my opinion. And for its 20th anniversary which inf fact is right now, a special features laden new Bluray edition would be so helpful for this. Are you hearing Sony?
NICK NOTLE Was Not Nominated For An Oscar For "CAPE FEAR",
De NIRO Was Though!,NOTLE Did Nab A Nod For A Movie That
Came Out The Same Year As "FEAR" BUT It's Was For "THE PRINCE
OF TIDES"!
1. Raging Bull
2. Taxi Driver
3. The Goodfellas
4. Casino
5. Shutter Island
6. The Big Shave
7. Kundum
8. Mean Streets
9. Cape Fear
10. The Aviator
I am just going to do a top 5 because I feel like 6-10 could change on my mood.
1. Goodfellas
2. Casino
3. Gangs of New York
4. Age of Innocence
5. Taxi Driver
At the moment these are my favorites.
1. Raging Bull
2. The Departed
3. Taxi Driver
4. Goodfellas
5. Mean Streets
6. The Aviator
7. Hugo
8. Life Lessons
9. The King of Comedy
10. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Also, must say that I have to agree 100% with After Hours and New York Stories. I had After Hours as a teenager and couldn't stop watching it, must have watched it twenty times and loved it the twentieth as much as the first. And the perception of Nolte's ambition coming to life as he discovers a new muse in NY Stories is priceless!
And Age Of Innocence? Uh, yeah, I guess I forgot all about that one, like everyone else on the planet. (except the Playlist, of course!)
Better version of "Key To Reserva" http: //www. scorsesefilmfreixenet. com/video_eng.htm (correct the url yourself, cut/paste to address bar)
IMO Bringing Out The Dead is hugely underrated while Hugo is overrated. Yes, it's technically brilliant but a bit dull and some performances are uninspired.
Scorsese also directed "Bad" in 1987 (both the short film and the accompanying music video) for Michael Jackson, and the half hour (with commercials) episode "Mirror, Mirror" for the Steven Spielberg-produced television series "Amazing Stories." Not to mention the three short films he made at NYU, and whatever involvement he had in the 1970 "Street Scenes" documentary on the student riots at NYU.
I've said this before, but I'll keep saying it – the way you break out articles into so many pages really discourages me (and I imagine others) from visiting this site. Please CUT THE CRAP!
I've always felt Bringing out the dead was far too underrated (it's a great book too), and Shutter Island and the Departed have been way overrated in general.
Excellent list and a labour of love, a good read too. You may have been too kinda to some of the later stuff, or I'm just a curmudgeon.
Gangs I think suffered more from Weinsteins interference than Scorseses direction. This was during a dry spell where he unfortunately took the bait offered to him. It's not a bad movie but it's certainly not up to his general standards.
casino a B-? that's an A+.
bringing out the dead and departed also deserve an A
my 10 favorite Martin Scorsese movies are
1-Goodfellas
2-Casino
3-The Departed
4-Taxi Driver
5-Raging Bull
6-Cape Fear
7-The Aviator
8-Gangs Of New York
9-Hugo
10-The Last Temptation Of Christ
Scorsese films in my time..
Bringing Out The Dead
Gangs Of New York —saw it in the cinema
The Departed —saw it on pirate dvd
The Aviator
Shutter Island
Wolf of Wall Street —will watch it online
As great as Scorsese is this list is way too kind to Hugo, Gangs of New York & Bringing Out The Dead.