The Martin Scorsese movie Ari Aster called “one of the most painfully beautiful unrequited love stories ever”
The cinematic influence of Martin Scorsese can be felt in the work of almost every contemporary filmmaker. With an endlessly slick filmography often taking on stories surrounding crime and masculinity, Scorsese has directly inspired the likes of Bong Joon-Ho, Spike Lee and even the modern master of horror, Ari Aster.
Upon first glance, Aster’s peculiar take on the horror genre seems like a stark contrast to Scorsese’s visceral, violent filmography. His feature debut, Hereditary, formed a quiet meditation on grief, which quickly devolved into beheadings and a treehouse coven. The cult favourite Midsommar subverted expectations of horror by taking place in daylight, while the chaotic and neurotic Beau Is Afraid couldn’t be much further from Scorsese’s cool collectedness.
Nonetheless, Scorsese’s influence on contemporary cinema is so pervasive that it can even be located in Aster’s filmmaking. In his technical prowess and unrelenting ability to entertain, the influence of Scorsese can be felt. Aster himself is a self-proclaimed fan of the director, and during a question and answer session for GQ, he even dubbed him his “hero”.
Perhaps a surprising choice, Aster once named the 1993 romantic drama The Age of Innocence as one of his favourite Scorsese films. Picking out his top ten films for Criterion, Aster compared the genius of Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years to The Age of Innocence, suggesting that the latter is “one of the most painfully beautiful unrequited love stories ever”.
Based on the 1920 novel of the same name, The Age of Innocence followed Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder through courting and convention in 1870s New York. A change of pace from Aster’s thrillers and even Scorsese’s gritty crime dramas, Day-Lewis starred as Newland Archer, a lawyer who embarks upon an affair with Countess Ellen Olenska, played by Pfeiffer. According to Aster, “It’s Scorsese’s Max Ophüls movie and the best Ophüls movie that Ophüls never made.”
Aster went on to praise 45 Years within the context of Scorsese’s historical romance, stating, “45 Years and The Age of Innocence strike me as two sides of the same coin. Most filmmakers would tell the story of 45 Years from the perspective of the husband, the man who followed convention and married the woman he didn’t love and then lost out on the grand romance.”
He continued to suggest that 45 Years was like The Age of Innocence, “as told from the point of view of Winona Ryder’s character fifty years later.”
Aster explained: “She’s the woman who never questioned convention or the institution of marriage and then realises later that she doesn’t recognise her own life. This illusion comes crashing down on her.”
Aster has previously incorporated his own twisted forms of unrequited love into his filmography – Dani’s relationship with Christian in Midsommar, for example – but none quite as painful or beautiful as Scorsese’s.
