The director Martin Scorsese called “one of the most important American filmmakers”
Martin Scorsese has cemented his place as one of the most important filmmakers in Hollywood history. Over the last four decades, the New Yorker has given us one of the greatest gangster movies of all time, tackled biopics about boxers and all-American billionaires, and, at the age of 81, continues to helm some of the most entertaining and innovative films to hit cinemas each year.
Somewhere between his debut, Who’s That Knocking at My Door, and his most recent offering, Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese honed a directorial flair that masterfully walks the line between style and substance. Whether you’re watching the black-and-white boxing shots of Robert De Niro in Raging Bull or the glistening displays of glamour and corruption in The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese’s visuals have always been slick and sharp, but his storytelling style is just as polished.
Even as Scorsese has started to favour a lengthier runtime, often pushing past the three-hour mark, his ability to entertain is unwavering. His pacing is perfect, his editing seamless, but he also pays constant attention to his characters. Alongside a roster of trusted collaborators ranging from De Niro to Leonardo DiCaprio, he has figured out a formula that works, though his films have never become predictable or stale.
While the rest of us would consider Scorsese to be the best of the best, the director has his own opinions on which filmmakers should find their names on that list. Remembering his own early years in the industry during a chat with filmSCHOOLarchive, the Goodfellas director shared the transformative effect of Roger Corman on him as a budding director, deeming him “one of the most important American filmmakers.”
Corman created some cult classic pictures as a director, from an adaptation of Edgar Alan Poe’s House of Usher to a biker flick that would contribute to an iconic sample, but his impact extended beyond his own work. When he wasn’t helming his own features, he often took on a producer role, helping other budding filmmakers to get their work made.
He was particularly instrumental in Scorsese’s development during the creation of Boxcar Bertha, which the director described as “where [he] finally found where [he] belonged in terms of how to make pictures.” On set, Corman taught Scorsese the importance of “total preparation” in movie-making, while their collaboration on Unholy Rollers left Scorsese in awe of his understanding of pacing.
