80 years of Martin Scorsese: 10 curiosities about the career of the famous director

Celebrate today, November 17, 2022, the most famous Italian-American director of all time. We are talking about the great Martin Scorsese, who is celebrating 80 candles today. Do you know these 10 curiosities about him?

Martin Scorsese was born in New York on November 17, 1942, his grandparents, both of Palermo origin, in search of a better future for their children, then moved to the Big Apple. After a more or less long apprenticeship, Scorsese began to become known through cult films, later arriving at those we all know. Obviously many of his two “favorite” actors are present, whom Martin has always hired, we are talking about the greats Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio.

Martin Scorsese Solocine.it

With these two actors, Martin Scorsese was able to distinguish himself as a director thanks to films such as Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Shutter Island etc. A single article wouldn’t be enough to describe all of the successful films Scorsese made, let alone the awards and accolades he received during his years of work. 80 years old today and the director still does not want to know how to retire.

Indeed, while waiting for the next film Killers of the Flower Moon, which will be released in theaters on January 23, 2023 with its two main actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio, we want to reveal 10 curiosities about his career as a director.

Not everyone knows…

Not everyone knows that Martin Scorsese directed some of the greatest movies of all time. True milestones of cinema that have received very high reviews from critics, as well as Oscars and multiple awards. In addition to those already described above, we have New York, New York, The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, The Age of Innocence, Casino, The Departed, Hugo Cabret. Martin Scorsese is a kind of King Midas in that everything he touches turns to gold. He was not only one of the best directors of all time, but also a famous producer and a talented actor.

Martin Scorsese as Uncle Scrooge

Estimates assume that Martin Scorsese’s assets over the years have peaked at something equal to $100 million, a figure we mere mortals can’t even fathom. But with all his activities, in addition to those also described as an artist and one of the most influential authors in the world of industry, no one will ever know for sure (except him of course) how much his real treasure.

He really hates superheroes…

Scorsese is famous for being “hated” by younger audiences, as new generations will be remembered primarily not for his filmography but for being “…the one who hates Marvel movies”. Indeed, according to the director: “Marvel films are not cinema…”. This not only angered fans, but also the actors who played them. The response of one of today’s most famous Spiderman, Tom Holland, is famous, who replied to the director as follows: “He does not know what a Marvel movie is because he has never made one “.

Joker didn’t even want to see it

It seems that initially Martin Scorsese was invited to star in Joaquin Phoenix’s award-winning film, Joker. However, he later decided not to be involved as the film’s plot did not interest the director. He didn’t even want to see it in the cinema.

With Taxi Driver he had a hard fight

The film that made director Martin Scorsese world famous, Taxi Driver, was in danger of not being released in theaters as we know it. Scorsese believed in this film and in Robert De Niro’s interpretation from the beginning, so he didn’t quite understand the idea of ​​cutting the scenes to reduce the budget by the producers. A legend has it that Scorsese entered the studio with a gun threatening the writers that he would kill them if they did. How it really happened, no one will ever know, what is certain is that Scorsese was right.

The unexpected cameo

In the movie Taxi Driver, Scorsese is also famous for making a cameo appearance in an iconic scene from the movie. Obviously, this role had to be played by a main actor, who, however, got injured at the last minute. To avoid delaying the scenes again, with the help of his friend De Niro, he acted himself.

Scorsese also turned to Netflix

For his film The Irishman released in theaters in 2019, Martin Scorsese also sought the help of the legal streaming platform giant Netflix. The gangster film he directed also achieved great success for the countless special effects. Obviously, the budget would have been too high, which is why Scorsese asked for help from Netflix, who settled for funding his project.

The phrase about Little Italy

In one of the first interviews broadcast by the director, when asked about his origins and his work, Martin Scorsese replied thus: “When you were raised in Little Italy, what to become, if not a gangster or a priest? Now I could not be one or the other”. Obviously, this sentence is not exactly gratifying for the Italian people, but in any case the choice to become a director came to his mind precisely because of the harsh environment in which he spent his childhood.

Raging Bull and the Decision Black and White

It’s no coincidence that the Raging Bull movie was in black and white. Scorsese chose this technique for three reasons, first is that he wanted to differentiate it from the movie Rocky, second he wanted to highlight the uniqueness of the period and finally he hated the sight of all that blood, so removing the color a removed the problem.

De Niro and Scorsese Solocine.it

The Departed – Good and Evil and the “X” in certain scenes

To pay homage to the famous film Scarface, Martin Scorsese decided to distribute several “X”s in the scenography of the film. This letter appears whenever a character is about to die, as the most attentive noticed, in the last scene the “X” appears behind Billy’s character before he leaves.

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