Feb. 12, 1996

Home About TMC Brothers and Sisters Directors Alphabetic Index Guest Critics Hall of Flame Other Film Sites Feedback

One of the most passionate directors of the past two decades, Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, NY. He had thought about being a priest and had gone to Cathedral College. He chose a different path however, ending up at New York University and discovering the religion of cinema. He made some successful short films, but his first feature length film was Who's That Knocking at my Door (1968). First shown at the Chicago film festival, it failed to gain a full theatrical release. Then, he worked as an editor on the massive documentary, Woodstock. After two more feature films, he made his breakthrough movie, Mean Streets, a story about Italian hoods in Little Italy. The film garnered critical and public success, and introduced Scorsese to the Hollywood film industry.

There seems to be a subtle theme about religion and God in a good number of his films. Consider Taxi Driver (1976). Robert De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, feels that he is the avenging angel, that must save Iris (Jodie Foster) from a life of damnation. It was one of the many things that made Taxi Driver so successful in the first place. De Niro is Scorsese's frequent star in such films as Raging Bull, a biography of Jake Lamotta, and the recent Casino. Because of such films, Scorsese was considered the new voice of the 70's and a large influence in the 80's and 90's.

Though Scorsese has not had a financial success on the level of E.T. or Star Wars, he has earned an overwhelming respect and enormous amounts of kudos from fellow filmakers, actors, critics and most importantly, the general public. It has made him the envy of many of his peers.

My rating on a scale of 1 to 10: 10

Back to Home Page

The Dream Machine --- Network Services

...the best independent ISP in the Twin Cities