The one director Martin Scorsese said nobody could match: “He’s provocative”
In the world of cinema, the name of Martin Scorsese is unstoppably acclaimed. His breakout moments with Taxi Driver would showcase a unique mind like no other filmmaker possessed. Scorsese was obsessed with cinema and seemed intent on making his mark on the art form, no matter how impenetrable the industry appeared to be.
This devotion to work allegedly left Scorsese holding a threateningly pointed gun when it was suggested that the movie, starring Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, wouldn’t get made. While those days are long gone, and the director’s filmography has grown immensely over the following decades, Scorsese still approaches his projects with the same fire-breathing dedication as he always did.
Across a career littered with hits like Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Raging Bull and, most recently, Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese has operated as a gracious curator of cinema as opposed to a flashy dominator of the industry. It’s a humility that is born from an appreciation of the craft and the true artisanal understanding that the learning of such an art never truly stops. It has made Scorsese one of the most appreciative directors around.
The filmmaker appreciates actors, he adores movies of all kinds and holds a special kinship with other directors. Not only did he spend his earliest moments in the spotlight of Hollywood alongside friends George Lucas and Steven Spielberg – a trio colloquially known as the ‘Movie Brats’ – but he has since been forthcoming with praise for a whole host of other movie-makers, including Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino. However, for Scorsese, there is one director who stands out among the pack: Brian De Palma.
“Brian is a great director,” Scorsese once wrote of the man who not only produced great pictures but would help Scorsese to and from the hospital when the newly discovered smog of Los Angeles attacked his asthmatic New York lungs. “Nobody can interpret things visually like he does: telling a story through a lens.” It’s not just a throwaway comment, either. In the passage, Scorsese notes down a perfect example that showcases the filmmaker’s skill: “Take the scene in The Untouchables (1987) where Charles Martin Smith is shot in the elevator,” he shared before continuing, “A lot of people use the steady-cam and don’t know what they’re doing. What Brian does with it is tell the story, progressing the story within the shot.”
These are not simply nerdy intricacies but monumental details that help elevate a movie into an experience. Scorsese adds: “When you get a real De Palma picture like Raising Cain (1992) or Body Double (1984), you’re getting something really unique. He’s provocative. He goes, ‘I’m going to do this again. Hitchcock did it — so what? Who cares? I’m doing it this way.’ Brian knows.”
Scorsese has always had a kinship with the man he lovingly refers to as ‘The Filmmaker’. For him, he and De Palma are simply fighting against the constant swell of cinematic tides to remain buoyant and riding the waves of adulation into shore. However, most of all, as he signs off, “We’re just trying to breathe in the water here.” There are few men who kn ow that feeling quite as well.
