Martin Scorsese’s first trip to the movies was a “frightening experience” he’ll never forget
There are many cinephiles with formative memories of watching movies because there didn’t seem to be anything else to do. Outcasts and loners drifted towards the cinema in the hope of finding solace and community, seeking comfort through the characters on screen.
Watching movies becomes a way to escape reality and temporarily block out the world around you, making you feel as though life is much bigger. Countless legendary directors have shared similar stories from their childhood, describing early memories of being swept away by a story and losing themselves in an alternate life. This was certainly the case for a young Martin Scorsese, who grew up in a turbulent New York neighbourhood with a severe case of asthma, hiding out in the cinema as a way of distracting himself from his own anxieties.
During his climb to success in the New Hollywood movement, many described Scorsese as being a highly anxious person, something that the director has said stemmed from his tumultuous childhood and severe asthma. As a result, movies quickly became a way for a young Scorsese to briefly gain respite from these everyday issues, becoming infatuated with the power of storytelling and the way it can distance you from yourself.
It came as no surprise to many that he then pursued a career as a director, with Scorsese becoming a dedicated movie buff and watching everything he could get his hands on. A trip to the cinema was a borderline religious experience, an experience so influential that Scorsese then devoted his entire life to making and preserving films.
The director has described his undying love for The Red Shoes, Paisan, 8½ and Ashes and Diamonds, with a strong love for old Hollywood and any director who challenged the status quo, a sentiment that Scorsese carried into his own work as one of the pioneers of the revolutionary period that rocked Hollywood forever.
But while we might associate Scorsese with making films that have shaken all of us, with particularly dark strands within Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, the director described the very early viewing experience that had a particularly strong effect on him.
As a child, Scorsese said his parents “didn’t know what to do with me, so they took me to the movies. The first film I can remember the title of was Duel in the Sun, which was a frightening experience that I still am not sure I’ve gotten over to this day, but it’s a wonderful film.”
Directed by King Vidor in 1946, the film follows a woman called Pearl who is sent to live with her dead father’s first love, finding herself caught between two men. For a film marketed as a romance, it’s surprisingly dark and psychological, and it’s not surprising that it would be so unsettling for a younger viewer. It’s over-the-top and sometimes ridiculous in its extremes, something that would certainly have a lasting impact and remains a strong memory for Scorsese as a result.
Even if it might be flawed, we can’t help but be moved by the stories that reach a deeper place within us.
