Director - Martin Scorsese

Notable writing credits:-
Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino

Notable Directing Credits:-

Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Shutter Island, The Departed and Wolf of Wallstreet. 

Scorsese is a great director and from the interviews I have seen, a great man. A visionary and true legend in the film making industry and one of my all time favourite directors, He knows how to make a great film, and consistently delivers. 

Let's find out a little more about him by looking at some interviews, articles and anything I can find. What makes Martin Scorsese such a good storyteller?

I found this video of Scorsese on the importance of visual literacy. The art of translating a screenplay into a film, is all about visual storytelling. Visual literacy means having the knowledge and eye for visual storytelling. A line which I found interesting was when Scorsese says: 

“What you’re doing is training the eye and heart of the student, to look at a film in a different way by asking questions and point to different ideas, different concepts, suggestions.”

Is this the beginning of all visual storytelling? The process of asking questions to find answers and truth? I believe so. Asking questions is the way to challenge existing convention, to challenge popular thought or to find the underlying and hidden truth in a story. It also helps you understand the fact that in storytelling, there is no right or wrong answer in the stricter sense. There is always another way to do something, another perspective to look through, a new angle to consider and a new approach to attempt.

Goodfellas - "How the f*** am I funny?"

Mr Scorsese has a quite insightful way to look at the characters in a story. If you can take the time to consider than every character is not a person, but a representation of how we live our lives, our inner personalities and archetypes of people. He said something which caught my attention and once I heard it, it was eye opening.

“The star of the movie is a way of life, not a character.”

What a fantastic idea! The star is a way of life, not a character. Henry in Goodfellas wasn't Henry, but the youths who get mixed up in crime to lead an exciting life. Jordan in Wolf of |Wallstreet wasn't Jordan, but the average man who becomes corrupted by money and power. This is, when you really think about it, obvious and genius. 

Taxi Driver - "You talkin' to me?"

What makes him such a fantastic director? Is it knowledge of the essence of the story? Yes and no. Yes in that it definitely is an essential element, but it;s not the only reason. 

In this interview about Taxi Driver:

http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/interview-with-martin-scorsese

Scorsese says something which sums up pretty much the essence of the craft of directing.

“Every film should look the way I feel.”

Finding the deepest level of personal truth in a story is perhaps one of the most fundamental things that a director can do. Like actors, the ability to bring your emotional honesty to your work results in a greater final project. Honesty leads to seeking and udnerstanding truth, and emotional truth and the human condition is the essence of all stories. They involve people like us with flaws who struggle against a challenge as we often do and omce out the other end. We thrive on seeing people like us succeed. We feel empathy with well rounded characters, we feel their pain and happiness. An honest director who expresses himself gives an audience a conduit to feel a range of emotions that we  all come to expect from great films. 

Wolf of Wallstreet

In an Indiewire interview about The Wolf of Wallstreet:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/martin-scorsese-interview-exclusive-the-wolf-of-wall-street

Scorsese sums it all up in a nice tidy phrase for us.

“What we know is that deep inside of every one of us, we have weakness, we are human beings and in the right wrong circumstances we are capable of anything and that's what the movie is about”

He understand human psychology and the human condition. On top of that, he understand one of the most fundamental aspects of film-making: know exactly what your film is about. A film has a clear theme, an emotional and psychological message for the audience that not only poses questions but gives answers. Wolf of  Wallstreet is about greed. Goodfellas is about family and loyalty. They both leave an impression in the audience and make them think. They make you engage with the subject in a way that it becomes important to you. 

Raging Bull

To sum this up, I think there are three fundamental things which makes Scorsese such a successful director: He knows what he wants from his films, he knows what he wants from his films, he asks questions and stimulates his creativity with different possibilities. These aren't the only things, his relationships with actors goes a long way, he has a fascinating vision and tells it with precision. Above all, he brings his deepest level of truth to his films, and it shows.