{"id":2505072,"date":"2025-10-31T04:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-mr-scorsese\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T04:31:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:31:21","slug":"yes-mr-scorsese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-mr-scorsese\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Mr. Scorsese"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">6<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyes-mr-scorsese%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2505072&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reflects on the impact of Martin Scorsese&#8217;s work and the new Apple TV+ docuseries *Mr. Scorsese*, directed by Rebecca Miller, which explores the filmmaker&#8217;s life and career. The author recounts a formative experience reading *Scorsese on Scorsese* before college, which opened a new understanding of film as an art form.The series chronicles Scorsese&#8217;s Sicilian immigrant roots,his upbringing in New York,and the influences of Catholicism and the Italian code of silence (omert\u00e0) on his work. It highlights key films like *Taxi Driver*, *raging Bull*, and *Goodfellas*, focusing on Scorsese&#8217;s craftsmanship and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-lead-diver-behind-the-thai-cave-rescue-made-thirteen-lives-realistic\/\" title=\"How The Lead Diver Behind The Thai Cave Rescue Made \u2018Thirteen Lives\u2019 Realistic\">cinematic techniques<\/a> despite personal struggles, including addiction.<\/p>\n<p>Featuring commentary from collaborators such as Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Steven spielberg, the series portrays Scorsese as a driven, complex auteur whose movies delve into the gray areas of human nature, emphasizing that even flawed individuals possess a soul. While the docuseries includes psychoanalytic interpretations that the author finds somewhat excessive, it effectively celebrates Scorsese&#8217;s enduring influence and the importance of cinema.The article concludes by noting that,despite some lesser films,Scorsese&#8217;s body of work from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s is foundational to American culture and filmmaking,and this series offers both newcomers and longtime fans a rich,insightful appreciation of his legacy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Yes, Mr. Scorsese<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>The summer before I went to college, a much<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >-admired older boy loaned<\/a> me a copy of <em>Scorsese on Scorsese<\/em>, a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/books\/\">book<\/a>-length interview concerning <em>Mean Streets<\/em>, <em>Taxi Driver<\/em>, <em>Raging Bull<\/em>, and other pictures from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mary-miller-congresswoman-demands-secret-service-directors-resignation-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Mary Miller, Congresswoman, demands Secret Service director&#039;s resignation - Washington Examiner\">director&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s early oeuvre. I had seen none of those <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/movies-and-films\/\">movies<\/a>. Yet, the volume was a revelation, not only because of its aroma of exciting adulthood but because its aesthetic principles had previously lain beyond my grasp. The house in which I had been raised was literate but not artistic. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/martin-scorsese\/\">Martin Scorsese<\/a>&rsquo;s way of talking and thinking about his work opened a door that I badly wanted to see beyond.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Those happy weeks came back to me as I watched <em>Mr. Scorsese<\/em>, Apple TV&rsquo;s masterful new docuseries of the auteur&rsquo;s filmography and life. Directed by Rebecca Miller, wife of occasional Scorsese collaborator Daniel Day-Lewis, the series is a worthy summing-up of one of the great careers in cinematic history. Among those participating are Scorsese mainstays Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, who, between them, starred in 15 of the director&rsquo;s movies (and counting). Steven Spielberg provides forthright commentary, as do Brian De Palma, Spike Lee, Ari Aster, and a host of other Hollywood peers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3867255\/cameron-crowe-the-uncool-review\/\">The upstanding Cameron Crowe<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3869185\/joe-concha-gavin-newsom-defense-joe-biden-republican-ad\/\">Joe Concha predicts Gavin Newsom&rsquo;s defense of Biden will become a &lsquo;Republican ad&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3869055\/theo-von-says-being-featured-in-dhs-video-made-him-scared\/\">Theo Von says being featured in DHS video made him &#8216;scared&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The picture that emerges over five episodes is of a director driven by unusual ideologies and desires. Born in 1942 to first-generation Sicilian immigrants, Scorsese lived briefly in a close-knit Queens neighborhood before an arcane disagreement forced his family to retreat to the Bowery. There, surrounded by mobsters, the future moviemaker embraced Catholicism and the Italian code of <em>omert&agrave;<\/em>. (&ldquo;If you see something, don&rsquo;t say anything,&rdquo; Scorsese&rsquo;s mother recalls advising her children.) These twin influences, religious fervor and a preoccupation with dangerous men, would go on to define the next six decades of the director&rsquo;s working life, finding expression as a conviction that even scoundrels are in possession of a soul. As the auteur himself says in one of many revealing vignettes, &ldquo;I think anybody&rsquo;s capable of evil, given the right and wrong circumstances.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Martin Scorsese. (Apple TV+)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Mr. Scorsese&rsquo;s<\/em> early episodes follow their subject from the streets of Little Italy to the Hollywood of the 1970s. Having already directed a well-received independent feature (<em>Who&rsquo;s That Knocking at My Door<\/em>) and two critical hits (<em>Mean Streets<\/em> and <em>Alice Doesn&rsquo;t Live Here Anymore<\/em>), the filmmaker soon set out to make 1976&rsquo;s <em>Taxi Driver<\/em>, a picture that would secure his place among the nation&rsquo;s leading cinematic artists. Dismissed as a &ldquo;brutalizing experience&rdquo; by Cannes jury president Tennessee Williams, the film nevertheless won the Palme d&rsquo;Or, as well as adulation from American critics. Though the director&rsquo;s next production, <em>New York, New York<\/em>, largely failed, 1980 saw the release of <em>Raging Bull<\/em>, named the best picture of the decade by the American Film Institute, Roger Ebert, and others.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These were, as the man himself readily admits onscreen, the auteur&rsquo;s cocaine years. Among <em>Mr. Scorsese&rsquo;s<\/em> many pleasures, however, is its interest in its subject&rsquo;s craftsmanship, an attention to cinematic detail seemingly unhindered by struggles with addiction and poor health. With Scorsese as a guide, we grasp how the filmmaker used framing techniques to render Travis Bickle&rsquo;s isolation, allowing De Niro into other actors&rsquo; shots but permitting no one else to enter his. We learn that Scorsese staged Jake LaMotta&rsquo;s final bout with Sugar Ray Robinson using <em>Psycho&rsquo;s<\/em> shower scene as a model. We&rsquo;re shown Joe Pesci&rsquo;s famous &ldquo;Funny How?&rdquo; scene from the 1990s <em>Goodfellas<\/em> and invited to reflect upon the fact that the sequence uses no closeups. Consequently, the creeping dismay of Henry Hill&rsquo;s tablemates is at least as significant as Ray Liotta&rsquo;s rising panic and fear.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Had Scorsese made only the pictures mentioned thus far, he would have gone down as an icon of the medium and a true American original. How many film directors are responsible, at second hand, for the attempted assassination of a president, as Scorsese was due to John Hinckley&rsquo;s <em>Taxi Driver<\/em>-esque assault on Reagan? As moviegoers know, of course, much more lay ahead, not only a &ldquo;blasphemy&rdquo; feud with Catholic and Evangelical leaders following screenings of <em>The Last Temptation of Christ<\/em> (1988) but a six-picture collaboration with DiCaprio that would give the filmmaker a thrilling late-in-life boost. In Miller&rsquo;s hands, <em>Mr. Scorsese<\/em> is more than an appreciation of this sterling work. It is a deep dive into why movies are important in the first place. Students of cinema &mdash; or of <em>fin-de-mill&eacute;naire<\/em> Americana, for that matter &mdash; will eat it up and wish heartily for seconds.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3860518\/after-the-hunt-review-metoo-movement\/\">VIBE TWEAK: REVIEW OF &lsquo;AFTER THE HUNT&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is not to say that Apple&rsquo;s docuseries is perfect. Trailing the production like so much flotsam is a slew of psychoanalytic &ldquo;insights&rdquo; designed to place the director inside the minds of his protagonists. Case in point: Ex-wife Isabella Rossellini&rsquo;s assessment of the auteur&rsquo;s religiosity is juxtaposed with a clip of Jake LaMotta banging his head against a wall. If Freud is your copilot, you will likely greet such material with joy. I found it cloying and beside the point. Never mind the man himself, who, anyway, emerges as something of a whiner and malcontent. The work is the thing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Is Scorsese&rsquo;s work actually good, rather than merely famous? Some of it is quite bad. I defy anyone to make it through 1999&rsquo;s <em>Bringing Out the Dead<\/em> without resorting to mood-altering substances. As for the rest, at this point it hardly matters. From 1976 to 1990, Martin Scorsese made films that are part of the American songbook, as quintessential in their way as &ldquo;Washington Crossing the Delaware&rdquo; or &ldquo;The Old Rugged Cross.&rdquo; Simply to read about them changed, in no small measure, the course of this critic&rsquo;s education. Now, thanks to Apple&rsquo;s outstanding production, many others may have a similar encounter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Graham Hillard is editor at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal and a <\/em>Washington Examiner<em> magazine contributing writer.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, Mr. Scorsese: A revealing book before college<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":956,"featured_media":2505073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LA.Scorsese.110525.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[51115,46366,66218,4868],"class_list":["post-2505072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cinema-2","tag-film-director","tag-martin-scorsese","tag-movie"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/LA.Scorsese.110525.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/956"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2505072"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2505076,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2505072\/revisions\/2505076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2505073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2505072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2505072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2505072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}