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Masters of Cinema
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese (USA, b. 1942) is among the most prolific of American directors, having made more than 25 features in a 40-year career that has seen him garner all the highest honours the film world can bestow. Since the success of Taxi Driver in 1976, which also marked the start of his long collaboration with Robert De Niro , he has continued to draw endless inspiration from his Italian-American roots in films such as Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995). A cinephile director with a strong spirit of independence, he has managed to combine making blockbusters such as Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2010) with more personal films on the history of cinema ( A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies , 1995) and music (Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones). He is also admired and respected throughout the world for the tireless work of his Film Foundation in preserving America’s film heritage.
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 30, 2019
Practically perfect 100 page book on this great director featuring many photos and NO FILM-THEORY JARGON WHATSOEVER.
Sample quote :
But The Age of Innocence cannot be reduced merely to the cruelty of Edith Wharton’s novel. Scorsese takes such delight in filming these people, and these costumes, objects and settings, that the film often seems to forget to be unhappy.
In fact the only thing wrong with this is the cover which shows Martin Scorsese as the over-friendly uncle saying hey, everyone’s gone out, they won’t be back for hours, what say we watch some movies together? Then we could play some games. No that’s okay Uncle Martin, I gotta do my homework… Aww, homework can wait….
Cover aside, here we have a brisk hustle through all these movies, I never realized what a workaholic Scorsese is – Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Any More, Taxi Driver, The Last Waltz, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, After Hours, Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, Casino – the list goes on & he hasn’t stopped yet. Some are admitted failures – New York New York, Kundun, Shutter Island. Some were massive hits – Color of Money, Gangs of New York. Some are my favourites, some I found unwatchable (Gangs of New York!). As well as that, he produced other great movies like You Can Count On Me, acted in nine movies, made commercials and documentaries (like the Dylan stuff, No Direction Home and Rolling Thunder Revue.) Also had time to marry Isabella Rosselini – only lasted 3 years but what the hell.
Turns out there is a whole lot of this Masters of Cinema series and they’re all dead cheap too. I’m gonna get them.
Recommended. But don’t look at that cover for too long.
Sample quote :
But The Age of Innocence cannot be reduced merely to the cruelty of Edith Wharton’s novel. Scorsese takes such delight in filming these people, and these costumes, objects and settings, that the film often seems to forget to be unhappy.
In fact the only thing wrong with this is the cover which shows Martin Scorsese as the over-friendly uncle saying hey, everyone’s gone out, they won’t be back for hours, what say we watch some movies together? Then we could play some games. No that’s okay Uncle Martin, I gotta do my homework… Aww, homework can wait….
Cover aside, here we have a brisk hustle through all these movies, I never realized what a workaholic Scorsese is – Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Any More, Taxi Driver, The Last Waltz, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, After Hours, Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, Casino – the list goes on & he hasn’t stopped yet. Some are admitted failures – New York New York, Kundun, Shutter Island. Some were massive hits – Color of Money, Gangs of New York. Some are my favourites, some I found unwatchable (Gangs of New York!). As well as that, he produced other great movies like You Can Count On Me, acted in nine movies, made commercials and documentaries (like the Dylan stuff, No Direction Home and Rolling Thunder Revue.) Also had time to marry Isabella Rosselini – only lasted 3 years but what the hell.
Turns out there is a whole lot of this Masters of Cinema series and they’re all dead cheap too. I’m gonna get them.
Recommended. But don’t look at that cover for too long.
December 12, 2025
“Violence is not the answer, it doesn’t work any more. We are at the end of the worst century in which the greatest atrocities in the history of the world have occurred... The nature of human beings must change. We must cultivate love and compassion.” - Martin Scorsese
October 16, 2012
Un buen resumen de la vida y obra de uno de los mejores directores de todos los tiempos.
October 15, 2016
عکساش قشنگه. کتاب نکته های معمولی رو گفته در حد آشنایی
July 20, 2025
Breezy read (nearly as many pictures as text) with author Sotinel striving to combine Scorsese's multiple interests and themes (religiosity/betrayal/sacrifice/intensity, cinema history, music) into a coherent whole, but having to rely on the "one for them, one for me" credo to make sense of some outliers. I've seen 25 Scorese films over more than that many years -- does this make me want to see those I skipped? Maybe The Age of Innocence. Unfortunately, the book stops at Shutter Island (2010), leaving it for readers/viewers to digest and align the director's more recent epics (The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence, The Irishman, and Killers of the Flower Moon) for themselves. Methinks I see the patterns continue. Scorsese emerges as a grand old man (and mentor) of the movies and a true representative of the 20th (and 21st) century.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews