SCORSESE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

I would like to spend our second-to-last class (on Tuesday, May 2) screening excerpts from the films Martin Scorsese has been directing since Kundun.

In preparation for this class, please choose one of the films from the following list (one you've seen or will see in the coming days) and describe how it narratively, aesthetically, and/or thematically connects to one of the films of Scorsese's we screened previously this semester:

• Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
• Gangs of New York (2002)
• The Aviator (2004)
• No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
• The Departed (2006)
• Shutter Island (2010)
• A Letter to Elia (2010)
• Public Speaking (2010)
• George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011)
• Hugo (2011)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
• The Fifty Year Argument (2014)
• Silence (2016)

Finally, select a moment/scene/sequence from your chosen Scorsese film that you'd like to screen in class (including a time code detailing exactly when it starts and ends if you can) and explain how the excerpt you've selected supports the narrative/aesthetic/thematic connection you're making to an earlier Scorsese film.

We will try showing as many clips as possible during our May 2 class, so it would be great if you can bring in a copy of the film you're wanting to screen an excerpt from. But if you can't do that, I'll do my best to get copies of whatever films from the list above you choose to write about.

Please be sure to post your thoughtful and thorough response (your last one of the semester!) as soon as you can - but definitely by no later than midnight on Monday, May 1.

KUNDUN

Although I'm not requiring you to write about this week's film, I would of course love to know what you thought. So if you want to make up for a post you missed earlier in the semester - or if you'd like a little extra credit - please provide a thoughtful and thorough response here by no later than midnight next Monday, April 24.

Feel free to make connections between this work and the previous films of Martin Scorsese's we've screened up to this point Also, I mentioned in class what The Last Emperor director Bernardo Bertolucci asked Scorsese just as he was about to start shooting Kundun: "Have you learned that everything is form and form is emptiness?" If you can, I'm be interested to have you consider and address in your response how Bertolucci's question structurally and aesthetically applies to this very spiritual film.

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

This film is often considered a great departure from Martin Scorsese's previous offerings. Respond freely to what you thought about it, but please try to articulate the ways in which The Age of Innocence is similar to and/or different from the other Scorsese films and protagonists we've engaged with this semester.

Also, if you can, please address the ways in which Scorsese aesthetically achieves, as he once said in an interview about this film, "that sense of memory and loss, déjà vu almost."

I look forward to reading what you write by no later than midnight next Monday, April 17. Have fun with it!

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: "Everyone who sees The Last Temptation of Christ will bring his or her own sense of Jesus to match against Scorsese’s version."

Did you?

Roger Ebert wrote: "Among those who do not already have rigid views on the subject, The Last Temptation of Christ is likely to inspire more serious thought on the nature of Jesus than any other ever made."

Did it?

I encourage you to write whatever you'd like about this week's film - one of Scorsese's most controversial - just be sure to do it with as much passion and detail as you can.

I look forward to reading your thoughts, feelings, insights, etc. by no later than midnight Monday April 3.

"THE MARTIN SCORSESE FILM SCHOOL"

Martin Scorsese’s encyclopedic knowledge of - and undying love for – cinema is formidable and inspiring. To know and appreciate this auteur is to study and understand his passion and admiration for the many filmmakers who’ve had such an incredible impact on his own aesthetic. 

I began our first class by showing a clip from A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995), a 225-minute documentary in which Scorsese examines a selection of his favorite American films grouped according to four different types of directors: the director as storyteller; the director as an illusionist; the director as a smuggler; and the director as an iconoclast.

Inspired by this documentary, and based on the 85 films Martin Scorsese said "you need to see to know anything about film" during an interview, Flavorwire put together an amazing video essay of clips and stills from the “Scorsese 85,” using his own words when possible (from A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies and another great documentary celebrating his love of movies, My Voyage to Italy).

You can read this article highlighting the "Scorsese 85" first if you'd like, but your super-sized spring break blog post this week involves you watching "The Martin Scorsese Film School" video essay, choosing one of the films he references that you haven't seen before to screen, and then screening it.

Once you've watched the essay and screened one of the 85 films Scorsese mentioned, please post a response here that includes the following information:

• The title of the film you chose to screen
• Why you chose it
• What you thought of it
• Why you think Scorsese thinks you needed to see it
• And most importantly, how you think your chosen film/director does and/or doesn't relate to and inform Scorsese's work. Please be sure to highlight one film of Scorsese's we've seen to support your answer here.

Have a fun break, and please be sure to post your thoughtful, thorough response here by no later than midnight on Monday, March 27!

THE KING OF COMEDY

Please let me know in as much detail as you can provide what you thought of this week's film - one of my personal favorites.

In particular, identify what it was about The King of Comedy that you liked the most. Be specific. Maybe it's a particular scene, a performance, the script, an aesthetic choice (editing, camerawork, sound, etc.) - whatever the case, just let me know the one aspect of the film you most liked and briefly explain why.

Also, in this past week's reading from Scorsese on Scorsese, the director talks about how he and his friends have a running joke about referring to slow movies (those where the camera doesn't move much) as "mature." Scorsese read in the Village Voice that Jim Jarmusch said something like, "I'm not interested in taking people by the hair and telling them where to look." In response, Scorsese says, "Well, I do want them to see the way I see. Walking down the street, looking quickly about, tracking, panning, zooming, cutting and all that sort of thing. I like it when two images go together and they move."

At the conclusion of your response, let me know whose side you're on - Jarmusch's or Scorsese's? And briefly explain your choice.

I look forward to reading what you write - by no later than midnight on Monday, March 14.

RAGING BULL

Please give me your thoughts and feelings about Raging Bull, which - as I said in class - is currently considered one of the greatest American films of all time. Besides giving me your honest thoughts and feelings (which you can hopefully back up with references from specific moments/scenes) - I would like you to briefly reflect on why you think critics and the general public alike hold Raging Bull in such very high regard.

Finally, at the end of your response, consider the following: at the end of the film, Jake LaMotta sits in front of a backstage mirror reciting a monologue from On the Waterfront. One reviewer called it the most violent scene in the film. Scorsese himself said: "When [Jake] says in the mirror, 'It was you, Charlie,' is he playing his brother, or putting the blame on himself?' It's certainly very disturbing to me." Please respond to Scorsese's question: do you think Jake is 'playing his brother' or putting the blame on himself? And why do you think this is 'very disturbing' to Scorsese?

I look forward to reading what you write by no later than midnight next Monday.

King of Comedy - here we come!

TAXI DRIVER

In her rave review of Taxi Driver, esteemed American film critic Pauline Kael wrote "Martin Scorsese achieves the quality of trance in some scenes, and the whole movie has a sense of vertigo." Scorsese himself said that Taxi Driver arose from his feeling that "movies are really kind of a dream-state, or like taking dope."

Write whatever you'd like about this classic - which received a fresh rave review as recently as last Thursday - just be sure to address the way Scorsese uses one aesthetic of cinema (sound, cinematography, mise-en-scene, etc.) to achieve this "sense of vertigo" or "dream-like state." Please support your chosen aesthetic with an example of how it was employed during a specific moment in the film.

I look forward to reading what you write by no later than midnight next Monday.

ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

I look forward to hearing what you thought of Scorsese's first foray into "Hollywood filmmaking" here, and I would very much appreciate if in your response you could try highlighting some of the ways in which Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore resembles Mean Streets and/or Who's That Knocking At My Door - narratively, thematically, aesthetically, etc.

Write whatever you'd like about the film, but I encourage you to backup your likes and dislikes by referencing specific scenes, sequences, or moments. The more specific you are with your language and your examples from the movie, the better.

Additionally, please be sure to watch these two video essays about women in the works of Martin Scorsese, and based on the three early features we've screened up to this point - including Alice - and let me know what you think about the director's representation and treatment of women so far.

And if you can watch Scorsese's documentary about his family Italianamerican (1974, 49min) and incorporate observations from your viewing experience of that film into your comments here as well, that would be amazing.

Have fun, and I look forward to reading your thoughtful and thorough responses here by no later than midnight next Monday, February 13.

MEAN STREETS

Mean Streets, even more than Who's That Knocking At My Door?, shows Scorsese really beginning to harness his talents and successfully explore his obsessions on screen. I'd love to know what you thought of this film, especially in relationship to the one we saw last week. Write whatever you like, just be sure to incorporate answers to the following three questions in your response.

• What is Charlie's main conflict throughout the film?
• Why does the film end the way it does?
• What are some of the motifs Scorsese employs throughout the film? What purpose do they serve?

I look forward to reading your thoughtful and thorough response to this film and the above questions - by no later than midnight next Monday of course.

WHO'S THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR?

Welcome to our class blog, everybody!

So what did you think of Martin Scorsese's first feature, Who's That Knocking on My Door? Do you agree with this extremely positive review of the film by a very young Roger Ebert? And what about his two shorts, It's Not Just You, Murray! (1964) and The Big Shave (1967)? How do these two early films further your understanding of Martin Scorsese?

I hope you'll be completely honest and write whatever you like. All I ask is that you try to be as specific as possible with your language and that you work to support your critical assertions with examples from the film. Vague proclamations like "that was incredible" or "the acting is great" don't mean much. I instead encourage you to highlight specific moments and sequences to support what you're feeling. If you think a film or a scene or a performance is "great," please go further to let us know why.

I also ask that your response address the ways in which you think Martin Scorsese's first feature does or does not relate to his more recent films - thematically, aesthetically, or otherwise. You can reference the shorts we watched in this part of your response as well, especially if you see strong similarities and/or differences in them to more current Scorsese work.

If you write a lot you might get cut off, so please save your response in a separate file before posting. And be sure to post by no later than midnight on Monday so I have time to read what you wrote before our Tuesday afternoon class.

I'm glad you're in class, and I look forward to reading your thoughtful and thorough responses before we meet again. If you have any questions in the meantime, just let me know.