Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective

by Tom Shone

Martin A Retrospective is the definitive illustrated biography of one of cinema’s most enduring talents.

From Scorsese’s debut feature to The Wolf of Wall Street , this new critical monograph charts the director’s glittering 50-year career at the helm of filmmaking. Renowned movie critic Tom Shone draws on his in-depth knowledge and distinctive viewpoint to provide essential commentaries on all of Scorsese’s twenty-three feature films, including Taxi Driver , Raging Bull , Goodfellas , and The Departed . Shone’s text is joined by more than 250 behind-the-scenes stills, photographs, posters, and ephemera.

Movie by movie, this stunning monograph provides the definitive celebration of one of cinema’s most enduring talents .

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Biography, Coffee Table Books, Biography Memoir

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 29, 2014

About the author

Tom Shone was born in Horsham, England, in 1967. From 1994 to 1999 he was the film critic of the London Sunday Times and has since written for a number of publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, the London Daily Telegraph, and Vogue. He lives in Brooklyn, New York."

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a couple of Tom Shone's biographies/retrospectives, and I am a big fan of how he approaches each director's work. A lot of these types of coffee table director books spend a large portion of their bulk describing the plot to the movies, down to excruciating detail, whereas Shone does not. He only goes into such details if themes and moments relate back to specific moments from Scorsese's life. It's a good combination of behind-the-scenes info and critic that makes you want to revisit every one of Marty's works. I've got a list of 7+ movies to watch after finishing this book, and I had the pleasure of experiencing a few of his works for the first time (After Hours and The Color of Money especially impressed me - the zaniness of AH and the shots/editing of TCoM had me giddy like a college freshman at film school).

It's a good read and it's also shocking how many of Marty's movies underperformed at the box office.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scorsese is one of the greatest of all time. My top five (at the moment) films of his-
1. Goodfellas
2. Taxi Driver
3. The Departed
4. Casino
5. Raging Bull

honorable mention for "The Wolf Of Wall Street"

[Linnea Gelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and inspiring, with an in-depth look at every movie so far. Now I only hope that he will write his own biography sometime, I bet that would be even better.

[Dottore · Rating 1 out of 5]

Un altro libro che mi ha deluso. Martin Scorsese non è tra i miei registi preferiti ma è da ammettere la sua importanza e che abbia raggiunto picchi altissimi come Silence, Casinò e Taxi Driver. Questi sono film che possono essere amati anche da spettatori “superficiali” che non colgono il messaggio del film e che si soffermano su cose non importanti. Un esempio lampante di questo è come il pubblico ha reagito al personaggio di Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of the Wall Street: tanto criticato dal regista stesso ma considerato, nei social soprattutto, un grande uomo, un “sigma”. È un peccato perché sono film pregni di significato e ridotti all’osso con interpretazioni senza senso e, se giuste, molto limitate.

Questa superficialità l’ho notata anche nel libro. Hanno voluto soffermarsi molto sui retroscena e sulla realizzazione di questi film, e nonostante io abbia apprezzato gli aneddoti secondo me il libro è incentrato fin troppo su questo, dato che dei 20 paragrafi a film almeno 15 sono dedicati a questo, e gli altri 4-5 su cose importantissime come cosa ci comunica il film, la regia, la fotografia o la recitazione. Stiamo parlando di cose in assoluto primo piano nel cinema, e soprattutto in uno così pieno come quello di Scorsese. C’è stata molta cura nel layout delle pagine e nelle immagini scelte, ma non basta per rendere un libro valido, il testo conta molto di più. Proprio per questi due lati, il visivo curatissimo e l’altro, il testo, molto meno, secondo me è un titolo che si può confondere tra i classici libri da tavolino, quelli che si trovano nelle sale d’attesa.


“Paul Schrader said: ‘Travis Bickle is me’”

[Nneka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Understand the saying “don’t meet your heroes”. There’s something about pulling back the curtain too far on the mythical visionary director that takes some of the magic away. At the same time, making films is incredibly hard work, and we are lucky to live in a time of a director like Scorsese who has given his all to the art of making films.

[Anthony McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit I'm often more of an admirer of Martin Scorsese for his dedication to film preservation and educating us of the genius of cinema than I am of the many movies he has made during his famous career. Of the 23 films covered in this massive volume, only a few I would list as in my excellent list ("Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"/ "Taxi Driver"/ "The King of Comedy" and the superlative "Goodfellas"); some I admire more than liking ("Mean Streets"/ "Raging Bull"/ "The Departed") and at the other end, a few clunkers ("Cape Fear"/ "Casino"/ "Shutter Island").

With that said, as a film lover and student of the cinema I cannot be anything but exhilarated by this top-notch retrospective of the career and effervescent personality of Marty. This book is worth having just for the oodles of terrific photos from Scorsese films but even more so for the fascinating array of behind the scenes and candid shots.

Very much liked the coverage of Scorsese's "Little Italy" background and his early films and author Tom Shone has written an easy to read, excellent text.

I did have a grumble with the discussion of Elmer Bernstein's music for "Cape Fear" which neglected to note that Mr. Bernstein only adapted and arranged the original Bernard Herrmann score from the 1962 (and much superior) film version - a fact that was clearly acknowledged by all during production and when the soundtrack was released.

[Abdullahi Gelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long time ago, when I got the book, I planned to watch some of Marty's movies that I hadn't seen before and revisit some of them. I'm glad I didn't. It made me enjoy the book more and shortened the list of movies I wanted to see.

The book is very good and it brought some of the experience I had watching the movies. It informs us how each movie was received by the public and the critics, and how Marty felt at the time.

I was wondering if Tom Shone would mention 1MDB-1Malaysia Development Berhad- in the section of The Wolf of Wall Street, he didn't even allude to it, and I understand the reason. It would've added to the reading experience, but it might mean that Marty or other filmmakers stopped collaborating with Shone.

If there is one film one must see from Scorsese it would certainly be his small documentary Italianamerican 1974. It's a less than one hour movie about his parents and it's available on YouTube.

From the wedding scene in Godfellas , a tracking shot shows the guests. In few seconds Tommy's Mother (Catherine Scorsese) tells her son Tommy DeVito(Joe Pesci) while pointing at Henry Hill(Ray Liotta)...

Why don't you be like your friend Henry?
He's got a nice girl.
He's settling down now. He's married.
Pretty soon he'll have a nice family.
And you're still bouncing around
from girl to girl.

[Don Siegrist · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Scorsese fan or just a film fan you will lap this up. A quick jaunt through the great directors work with interesting insights and anecdotes. And not just hagiography, the author casts a critical eye throughout.

[jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

“the tools don’t make the movie, YOU make the movie. it’s freeing to pick up a camera and start shooting and then put it together with final cut pro. making a movie- the one you NEED to make- is something else. there are no shortcuts.”

[John Bleasdale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this.

[Krystle Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was one of the books that I read in concert with watching (or re-watching) all of Martin Scorsese’s narrative, feature films in chronological order in preparation for his adaptation of “Killers of the Flower Moon.” It was a great companion piece. Tom Shone has authored other film project companion books for previous director projects that I have completed. This book covers all of Marty’s narrative feature films in chronological order through the Irishman as well as a chapter highlighting his documentary film work. There are many quotes from the director as well as insights into the production of his films. A great companion piece for any film project.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

En utmärkt bok om Scorses filmografi. Ett stort plus är att boken är rik på bilder och intressanta analyser.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to learn more about the famed director, his roots, methods & commentary to some of the greatest films of all time.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 666th logged book.

Hail Satan.

[Trinya Gaskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think like this book because of one of Scoreses's movie, The Departed and i love The Departed

[Bruno · Rating 3 out of 5]

lightweight enjoyable read with great pictures