Michael Fassbender’s favourite Martin Scorsese movie: “It was such a huge influence on me”
Having collaborated with great directors like Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender knows what it takes to be a truly great filmmaker. That’s precisely why he considers Martin Scorsese, the director of countless gems like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas, to be among the primary visionaries who shaped his own journey as an actor.
Having recently expanded his interesting filmography with David Fincher’s latest thriller, The Killer, which draws from the genre’s extensive history, Fassbender is as much a student of cinema as he is an artist. During a conversation with A.Frame, the acclaimed actor reflected on the cinematic masterpieces that he considers to be the greatest sources of inspiration. These include timeless works that he revisits whenever he begins working on a new project.
When asked about the movie that inspired him to pursue a career in the industry, Fassbender immediately singled out Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. He said: “It’s got to be my favourite film. People always say, ‘Don’t ask me what my favourite film is!’ But there is a favourite film for me. Because of where it was in my life — around that time when I decided to become an actor — it resonated so much. The Godfather is a fantastic film.”
In the same interview, Fassbender was also burdened with the almost impossible task of selecting the greatest movie ever made by Martin Scorsese. Although the actor gave a disclaimer that he considers Goodfellas to be a special film, he ultimately picked Scorsese’s gritty 1973 crime movie Mean Streets because of the massive impact it had on his artistic consciousness. In fact, the Scorsese gem also played a part in shaping some of his early performances.
Fassbender revealed: “Scorsese was a massive influence on me. Even though I would say my favourite Scorsese film would be Goodfellas, I have to go with Mean Streets — just because again, at that time in my life, it was such a huge influence on me. When I was 18, I got friends together, and I directed a stage version of Reservoir Dogs — which would have to go down on the list as well — and played Mr. Pink, and I used Johnny Boy from Mean Streets as inspiration for my version of Mr. Pink. Those two films will kind of always be interlinked for me.”
Starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, Fassbender’s selection is interesting because Mean Streets is almost an antithesis to Goodfellas. Deviating from the glitz and glamour of organised crime, Scorsese’s early work explores the dark and dangerous world of low-level criminals whose fleeting lives are governed by sudden and irrational violence.
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