Martin Scorsese is one of the most revered and recognisable directors currently working in Hollywood. Since his first film I Call First (1967) he has continued to develop and hone his craft to the point that he is now one of America’s leading auteurs through his recurring themes of family, religion, conflict and redemption.
Six years after his debut with I Call First, he and at that time a little known actor called Robert De Niro would both earn acclaim for Mean Streets.(1973) It’s a very personal film to Scorsese and also his favourite (Cooney,2006) as it was based on his experiences growing up in his beloved Bronx district of New York. By no means as much so as Alfred Hitchcock, Scorsese does sometimes give himself cameo parts in his movies; in Taxi Driver (1976) he is a passenger in Travis Bickle’s cab and in Mean Streets he delivers the opening voice-over, setting the tone not only for the film but also for a recurring mantra in his films;
“You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it.”
A religious man, Scorsese nearly became ordained as a Roman-Catholic priest before eventually deciding to make movies instead. The film industry is thankful.
In an interview with Total Film magazine in February 2005 while promoting The Aviator (2004) the topic of the Oscars inevitably reared its head. Despite the critical acclaim his films have continually received over the years as more and more people see them, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had not rewarded any of his films with the iconic golden statue, and nor would they in 2005 also.
Scorsese even went so far as to say, “I’ve given up on Oscar. The 70s were my time.” (Graham, 2005:96) The 1970s was an exciting time for films, with such directors as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas amongst a host of others also beginning to find their voice and excite audiences in new ways. This movement is referred to as ‘New Hollywood’ or ’The Hollywood New Wave’ as American directors were beginning to be influenced by films from Europe and Asia such as the Spaghetti Westerns from Italy and the French New Wave.
Although it was a burgeoning time for young and hungry directors to make their mark, in some ways this perhaps hindered more than helped Scorsese. With such a diverse range of film-makers consistently producing films of a high quality, the competition for Oscars was arguably as tough and competitive as it had ever been; with films such as Apocalypse Now, (Coppola, 1979) Jaws, (Spielberg, 1975) and All the President’s Men (Pakula, 1976) all missing out on the coveted prize.
When Scorsese finally won his own Oscar in 2007 for The Departed (2006) it was expected that this would be his year. Yet there was a lingering sense that this was not for the brilliance of the film but instead so that Scorsese would finally have an Oscar to call his own.
The films he was up against are all fine films; Babel, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine and Letters from Iwo Jima. The diverse nature of the films seemed to cover all the bases the Academy looks for. Babel was a story of intertwining lives set in various locations across the world, The Queen was a biopic of Queen Elizabeth II, Little Miss Sunshine was a bitter-sweet feel good film and Letters From Iwo Jima was a war film that dealt with examining the myth of an iconic visual image from Japan in World War 2.
Then there was The Departed, a cat and mouse (or rather more aptly rat and mole) thriller that centred on one of Marty’s more familiar themes; that of identity. One factor that took away from Scorsese’s win, is that The Departed was a remake, the first one to win an Oscar. Despite his back catalogue of personal and adapted films, it seemed odd that a man who had been such a central figure in the rise of New Hollywood for his original creations would finally be rewarded for a film he transposed from Hong Kong. That film was Infernal Affairs. (Mak & Lau, 2002)
Infernal Affairs centres upon two conflicting figures; an undercover policeman in the mob and a mole in the police for the mob. This story was a worthy addition to the crime genre as it blurred the lines between good and bad, right and wrong, and as a result won a slew of accolades and awards in its native Hong Kong, including Best Picture and Best Director at the 22nd Annual Hong Kong Film Awards. One could also read something into the fact that Hong Kong itself has had a conflicting nature having once been under British rule.
From the very start of Infernal Affairs, the theme of duality is expressed as the names of the actors and contributors at the start are all displayed in pairs. There is a scene early on in which the two characters meet in a hi-fi store where the undercover policeman Yan is working when Lau, the mole, enters and the two discuss various stereo systems. While listening to music on the system Yan sells Lau, Yan remarks that the alteration Lau made to the stereo has caused the music to almost become “transparent.” An interesting choice of words given the murkiness of both these characters.
The significance of the stereos becomes apparent at the end when it transpires the mob boss Sam has been recording all of his meetings with Lau which Yan now has possession of and consequently sends incriminating recordings to Lau’s apartment where his partner discovers them after playing them back on the stereo Yan sold him. This scene is also used in The Departed but lacks the subtlety and continuity of the original, although Scorsese’s films are often punctuated by music, notably songs by The Rolling Stones. Simon Firth notes that “Film scores are ... important in representing community ... in both film and audience.” (1986:68-9)
There are several cultural nuances that are not transposed, but are replaced by others. One example being the number 4 in Hong Kong has connotations with death, and several deaths occur on the fourth floor of buildings. In contrast, Scorsese used a form of chiaroscuro lighting throughout the film to indicate impending death, signified by X’s in the shot. Scorsese admits on the commentary that he saw this technique in Scarface (Hawks, 1932) and wanted to use it ever since.
Though The Departed includes more characters and covers more ground than the original, as a consequence it has a substantially longer running time which doesn’t let it flow as well as Infernal Affairs. Indeed the additional material slows the tempo down, whereas the original was perfectly streamlined. The Departed undoubtedly is a fine film, but when contrasted with the original it feels slightly inferior despite, or perhaps because of, all of the familiar Scorsese touches.
When comparing three of Scorsese’s films with the Oscar winners, a clue as to why he was over-looked becomes clear when one examines the budget and gross of the films;
(Note, the gross takings are only representative of America.)
1976
· Taxi Driver Budget - $1.3 million. Gross - $28million.
· Rocky (Avildsen) Budget - $1.1 million. Gross - $117 million.
1980
· Raging Bull Budget - $18 million. Gross - $23 million.
· Ordinary People (Redford) Budget - $6 million. Gross - $54 million.
1990
· Goodfellas Budget - $25 million. Gross - $46 million.
· Dances With Wolves (Costner) Budget - $19 million. Gross - $132 million.
(Source – www.imdb.com)
Despite Taxi Driver making the best return of Scorsese’s three efforts, it pales in comparison to the astonishing return of Rocky. Considering the time period, it is of no great surprise that the audience would choose to see a film about an underdog over-coming the odds rather than go on a journey with a deluded and deranged ex-Vietnam veteran in the shape of Travis Bickle. What these films represent is the duality of society at the time; while the Vietnam war was still a major thought in people’s minds, the opportunity to see the embodiment of America in Rocky Balboa rise up and take as many punches as he can but not get knocked out is far more inspiring.
Both Ordinary People and Dances With Wolves were significant in the tale of Marty’s Oscar woes as their directors were marking their first transition from acting to directing. A cynic may contest that in these cases the Academy were just rewarding the directors for their past acting work rather than directorial craft.
Indeed, in numerous best film polls, both Raging Bull and Goodfellas are seasoned veterans, whereas Ordinary People and Dances With Wolves do not appear as regularly. In the American Film Institute’s top 100 films (2007 edition) all three of the aforementioned Scorsese films appeared, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas appearing at 4, 52 and 92 respectively, whilst only Rocky appeared at number 57.
(Full list can be found at http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx)
One of Scorsese’s most endearing qualities is his humility. For all the fuss and furore people have made over his Oscar snubs over the years, he has a different mindset;
I love Hollywood but I also realise there are political moves. I mean, why do you think we make movies? For the golden statue? Forget it. We’re making movies for people to see them. (Graham, 2005:99)
Regardless of his ups and downs, wins and losses, trials and tribulations over the years, there is one thing all film fans should be thankful for; God bless Marty for not becoming a priest!
Word Count : 1,630
References
Frith, S. (1986) ‘Hearing secret harmonies’, in C. MacCabe (ed.) High Theory/Low Culture: Analysing Popular Television and Film, Manchester: Manchester University Press
COONEY, J. (2006) A Farewell to Arms. Total Film. November (11) p58
GRAHAM, J. (2005) The Total Film Interview : Martin Scorsese. Total Film. February (2) p96 - 101
Photos courtesy of
http://www.gotterdammerung.org/film/reviews/i/infernal-affairs.html (Screen shot from Infernal Affairs)
http://smalltalk.blogs.screenrush.co.uk/?blog=smalltalk&tool=&page=101&f=1 (Photo by Corbis Sygma)
http://bigscreenlittlescreen.net/2007/01/31/updated-stories/ (Screen shot from The Departed)
