Filmmaker Rebecca Miller delves into the life and films of Martin Scorsese, finding a willing and transparent subject for her extensive Apple TV+ documentary, Mr. Scorsese.
Those who have tracked filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s career will not be shocked by anything revealed in Mr. Scorsese. Though there are a few great surprises and revealing moments of intimacy that give context to the career of a true iconoclast of film. What director Rebecca Miller’s documentary excels at is giving personal context in which Scorsese made some of the most searing, violent, and sometimes controversial films of the last fifty years.
Broken into five parts: Stranger in a Strange Land, All This Filming isn’t Healthy, Saint/Sinner, Total Cinema, Method Director. The film, and it is a film, never feels episodic, though, as with anything great Scorsese-related, there are side tangents, but all pointed and meaningful. Miller adroitly allows the man to guide us through his life like a co-authored autobiography. With collaborators, friends, and family all contributing either through new interviews or archival footage (for those dearly departed).
The most telling aspect of the documentary is just how little separation between the man and his films there was. The loneliness of Travis Bickle and the self-loathing of Jake LaMotta are just some of the topics Scorsese does not shy away from. Even more shocking is having Jodie Foster talking about Taxi Driver and John Hickley Jr. to give us context. It is these moments of candor, not just from Foster but from Robert DeNiro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sharon Stone, Leonard DiCaprio, screenwriter Jay Cocks, Editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Musicians Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, and filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Brian DePalma, and Spike Lee. Those are to be expected, but it is the insights from ex-wife Isabella Rosselini, childhood friends Frank Piccirillo, Robert Uricola, and daughters Francesca, Cathy, and Domenica.
Mr. Scorsese’s biggest issue is that it must come to an end. Even at a little under 5 hours (4 hours and 47 minutes with credits to be exact), the documentary feels like it skims the surface of a fascinating life, specifically the post-Oscar years, which have become as interesting, if not more so, for the choices he has made. Especially, during the reveal in the fifth part of the doc that recontextualizes everything in the second half of his career. Though that is possibly the point. That a man who has for so long been unable to separate his personal life from his art has finally found some separation.
Just like the filmmaker and his films, Mr. Scorsese gives us a complex portrait of a man that does not entirely answer all of the questions, leaving some things unsaid for us to examine ourselves and our relationship with his films.
Mr. Scorsese premieres on Apple TV+ on October 17th
Filmmaker Rebecca Miller delves into the life and films of Martin Scorsese, finding a willing and transparent subject for her extensive Apple TV+ documentary, Mr. Scorsese.
Those who have tracked filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s career will not be shocked by anything revealed in Mr. Scorsese. Though there are a few great surprises and revealing moments of intimacy that give context to the career of a true iconoclast of film. What director Rebecca Miller’s documentary excels at is giving personal context in which Scorsese made some of the most searing, violent, and sometimes controversial films of the last fifty years.
Broken into five parts: Stranger in a Strange Land, All This Filming isn’t Healthy, Saint/Sinner, Total Cinema, Method Director. The film, and it is a film, never feels episodic, though, as with anything great Scorsese-related, there are side tangents, but all pointed and meaningful. Miller adroitly allows the man to guide us through his life like a co-authored autobiography. With collaborators, friends, and family all contributing either through new interviews or archival footage (for those dearly departed).
The most telling aspect of the documentary is just how little separation between the man and his films there was. The loneliness of Travis Bickle and the self-loathing of Jake LaMotta are just some of the topics Scorsese does not shy away from. Even more shocking is having Jodie Foster talking about Taxi Driver and John Hickley Jr. to give us context. It is these moments of candor, not just from Foster but from Robert DeNiro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sharon Stone, Leonard DiCaprio, screenwriter Jay Cocks, Editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Musicians Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, and filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Brian DePalma, and Spike Lee. Those are to be expected, but it is the insights from ex-wife Isabella Rosselini, childhood friends Frank Piccirillo, Robert Uricola, and daughters Francesca, Cathy, and Domenica.
Mr. Scorsese’s biggest issue is that it must come to an end. Even at a little under 5 hours (4 hours and 47 minutes with credits to be exact), the documentary feels like it skims the surface of a fascinating life, specifically the post-Oscar years, which have become as interesting, if not more so, for the choices he has made. Especially, during the reveal in the fifth part of the doc that recontextualizes everything in the second half of his career. Though that is possibly the point. That a man who has for so long been unable to separate his personal life from his art has finally found some separation.
Just like the filmmaker and his films, Mr. Scorsese gives us a complex portrait of a man that does not entirely answer all of the questions, leaving some things unsaid for us to examine ourselves and our relationship with his films.
Mr. Scorsese premieres on Apple TV+ on October 17th
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