A Life in Pictures: Martin Scorsese

06 April 11

• Find out how his working class upbringing in New York's Garment District informed his early cinema
• Learn about the technical detail that meant Raging Bull's fight scenes took 10 weeks to shoot
• Hear about the metaphysics underpinning Shutter Island, and why he feels it's a 'misunderstood' film

Martin Scorsese was born in New York in 1942 to parents of Sicilian stock, whose Roman Catholic heritage and beliefs informed his early life and films. After a high school desire to enrol in the priesthood, he switched to cinema, receiving a MA in film directing at NYU: it was here he met his 'mentor', Haig Manoogian, who Scorsese credits as a major influence on his prolific and hugely acclaimed body of work.

After honing his distinct style on a number of short films, he gained wide cultural recognition for his gritty New York drama Mean Streets. The film also introduced the director's long-standing artistic collaboration with actor Robert de Niro.

Scorsese is widely regarded as one of the most significant filmmakers since the invention of cinema, whose unique style is balanced with a consistent experimentalism. The realism of his characterisation is frequently communicated through an elaborate, lyrical visual style - the expressionistic black-and-whiteness of Raging Bull, or the dreamish colour of 2010 thriller Shutter Island. Perhaps more so than any other director, he has managed to combine mainstream box-office success with critical and academic acclaim.

You create the atmosphere, and make it as easy as possible for the actor to take their time if they're onto something.

In this Life in Pictures interview, Scorsese tells Francine Stock how the panic of deadlines can lend his actors an energy that creates 'transcendental moments'.

He describes his early exposure to foreign cinema that informs his vision, as well as the powerful inspiration that occurs when you 'latch onto a mentor'. He dissects the elaborate cinematography and sound design of his classic film work, and talks about his teenage experiences with Goodfellas' Copacobana club.

The audio from this event is available to download as a podcast: click here for details.

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