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8/11/2002

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria

The American Museum of the Moving Image will present a major and comprehensive retrospective, '"Directed by Martin Scorsese," from November 9 through December 29, 2002. The two-month long series opens with the autobiographical films ITALIANAMERICAN and MEAN STREETS and includes all of the feature films, documentaries, shorts, commercials, and television work by Scorsese, who is generally acknowledged to be the greatest American filmmaker of his generation. The series is timed in conjunction with the December 25 release of his eagerly awaited new film, the ambitious and epic production THE GANGS OF NEW YORK.
Scorsese will make two special personal appearances during the retrospective, in Pinewood Dialogues moderated by New York Times critic Janet Maslin. On November 9, Scorsese will appear at the Museum for a discussion about his entire film career. In January (date and location to be announced), he will participate in a discussion with members of the cast and crew following a screening of THE GANGS OF NEW YORK. His key creative collaborator, film editor Thelma Schoonmaker (who has cut all of Scorsese's films since 1980), will speak at the Museum on November 24 following a screening of RAGING BULL, for which she won an Academy Award.
Presented with Scorsese's cooperation, the series will include a number of rare screenings, including the director's dynamic first feature, WHO'S THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR?, his heartfelt documentary portrait of his parents, ITALIANAMERICAN, and "Mirror, Mirror," his reflexive episode for Steven Spielberg's TV series AMAZING STORIES. The series is, however, mainly an opportunity to see the director's well-known, and intensely cinematic works, such as GOODFELLAS, TAXI DRIVER, CASINO, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, THE KING OF COMEDY, and more, the way they were meant to be seen, on the big screen.

Sumptuous in scale and brimming with life, Martin Scorsese's epic THE GANGS OF NEW YORK is a culmination of sorts, the grandest expression to date of the two key strands that run throughout his remarkable body of work. These dueling tendencies evoke the phrase "operatic realism." On one hand, Scorsese's films take full advantage of the heightened expressive powers of the medium, the ability to create a larger-than-life experience through the spectacle of sight and sound, and through the mastery of every element of the cinematic craft: acting, editing, camerawork, music, and design. Yet at the core of Scorsese's art is a passion for authenticity--a focus on details and a desire for tangible realism. According to the Museum's Chief Curator of Film, David Schwartz, who organized the series, "In essence, Scorsese makes documentary fictions, movies that combine the most expressive use of film technique since Hitchcock with a relentless search for realism." The end of RAGING BULL quotes the prophet John: "Once I was blind, but now I can see." The desire to see things as they are, and communicate this vision as intensely as possible, drives Scorsese's filmmaking.
While most boxing movies build to a climactic victory bout for the protagonist, Scorsese ignores the conventional story cliches in RAGING BULL. With clear-eyed precision, he brings us through the step-by-step degradation of Jake LaMotta, a spiritually empty monomaniac who loses everything because of his self-destructive attachment to his art. If there is redemption at the end, it is only through a kind of self-knowledge and honesty. Similarly, nearly all of Scorsese's movies take us, without sentimentality, but with electrifying passion and clarity, into the subjective worlds of characters who are marked by a singular obsession. Although we are offered no easy answers or simple endings, the journey is worthwhile because it always rings so true.
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST avoids the bombast of most Biblical epics, showing us instead how the daily life of Jesus might have actually looked and felt. NEW YORK, NEW YORK starts with the conventions of a 1940s Hollywood musical and injects the genre formula with the painful depiction of an ill-fated marriage. CASINO looks past the seduction and glitter of Las Vegas to show us the labyrinthine workings of an underworld establishment, and again the step-by-step destruction of a marriage (a favorite theme; lasting love is rare for Scorsese's loner heroes).
Scorsese's career has been a singular, ambitious odyssey that steers a course between commercial Hollywood filmmaking and uncompromising personal vision, between the desire to tell an entertaining story and the urge to show things as they are and explore such difficult emotions as anxiety, rage, and the search for something to believe in.
The journey has included some surprising twists and turns. From the acclaimed MEAN STREETS, which offered a street vision of gangster life far from the glamour of THE GODFATHER, Scorsese made a lyrical "woman's movie" set in the West, ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE. Then it was back to the city streets for his masterful TAXI DRIVER, an unparalleled vision of urban psychosis. After this shockingly violent vision came NEW YORK, NEW YORK, a lavish big-budget musical which set its harsh drama against a Technicolor backdrop of distinctly artificial sets. Following a change of pace from this painstaking production with the classic rockumentary THE LAST WALTZ, Scorsese made RAGING BULL, filmed in black-and-white, on real locations. The dark intensity of RAGING BULL, with its highly subjective style, was followed by the cool tableaus of THE KING OF COMEDY, an acid satire deceptively sunny in tone. Then, when his first attempt to make THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST fell through, Scorsese returned to his New York roots with the low-budget comedy AFTER HOURS, a comic nightmare made with the swiftness of MEAN STREETS. Scorsese then re-entered the Hollywood game with the exhilarating THE COLOR OF MONEY, showing again his ability to make a star vehicle with consummate skill.
Fittingly, the next film was an intensely personal project made far from Hollywood, as Scorsese seized the opportunity to make his dream project, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, on a low budget, on location in Morocco. After returning to New York for "Life Lessons," his episode in NEW YORK STORIES, and GOODFELLAS, Scorsese made CAPE FEAR, a heightened melodrama filmed in Florida, something like a horror movie as filmed by Douglas Sirk. From this grisly venture, Scorsese went to the high society milieu of Edith Wharton for his exquisite adaptation of THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. Then to CASINO, a contemporary Las Vegas crime epic, followed by KUNDUN, a dreamlike and exquisite epic about the search for inner, and outer, peace.
If this pilgrim's progress contains some surprising twists, his documentary A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES shows how the director's cinematic coming of age resulted in an artist so marked by fascinating contradictions. "Film is an addiction," says Scorsese, quoting Frank Capra, at the beginning of his epic essay about American cinema. Scorsese admits to having caught the bug at age 4, when his father took him to see DUEL IN THE SUN. Overwhelmed by the film's grand passions, exotic locations, powerful drama, and smoldering sensuality, Scorsese was hooked forever. Born in Queens in 1942, and raised in Little Italy, Scorsese grew up in movie theaters, enthralled by Hollywood during the height of the studio system, wide-screen Technicolor epics, atmospheric gangster movies, and robust westerns.

Yet when he made the inevitable decision to become a filmmaker, and went to New York University in the 1960s, the Hollywood studio system was in decline. The underground movies of the New American Cinema, along with the spontaneity of the French New Wave and other European art movies, offered a bracing alternative, an approach that was personal, spontaneous, and expressive. This was occurring during the rise of auteur criticism, which elevated the status of such Hollywood craftsmen as Howard Hawks, John Ford, Douglas Sirk, and Sam Fuller by showing how they were able to convey their highly personal visions while working deftly within the system. Also, of course, the social turmoil of the times revealed the lie beneath happy endings and the sanitized depictions of American life that were prevalent in mainstream culture.

Scorsese absorbed all of these influences to shape his own multifaceted vision. In Scorsese, the stylization of Vincente Minnelli meets the rawness of Roberto Rosselini, the poetic visuals of Frank Borzage meet the visceral impact of Stan Brakhage, and the narrative craft of D.W. Griffith meets the audacity of Jean-Luc Godard. Enormously prodigious, Scorsese has not only directed movies, but has lobbied vigorously for film preservation by co-founding the Film Foundation; helped to restore and distribute classic movies; and has been a distinguished producer (THE GRIFTERS, CLOCKERS, and more) and a memorable performer (ROUND MIDNIGHT and QUIZ SHOW). There is simply no American filmmaker whose life and artistry seem so inextricably intertwined as Martin Scorsese's. Everything about a Scorsese movie seems personal: every line of dialogue, every camera placement, every edit. Film indeed is a collaborative medium, and Scorsese has had some remarkable partners, most importantly Thelma Schoonmaker in the cutting room. But everything in a Scorsese movie seems to come from deep within his bones.

As a result, no filmmaker has raised the stakes of his craft higher than Scorsese; his every new movie is eagerly anticipated and measured against the highest standards. The success with which he has maintained these standards against the readily apparent difficulty of balancing commerce and personal vision has fueled Scorsese's career with an ongoing source of energy and tension. What makes Scorsese's movies so important to us is that they mean so much to him. Unlike most Hollywood movies, they offer the precise opposite of escape.

SCHEDULE

Saturday, November 9

2:00 p.m.
MEAN STREETS
Warner Bros., 1973, 110 mins. With Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro. Preceded by ITALIANAMERICAN 1974, 45 mins. Some Scorsese trademarks--thugs, rock music, insomnia, kinetic editing, Keitel, and De Niro--come together in MEAN STREETS, his breakthrough story of wannabe gangster (Keitel) with more conscience than is good for business. The documentary short (which he has called his favorite film) explores his relationship to his parents, his neighborhood, and his cultural heritage.

5:00 p.m. Special Event "A Pinewood Dialogue with Martin Scorsese" Martin Scorsese will discuss his career in a conversation with New York Times critic Janet Maslin. Tickets are $20, and must be purchased in advance: (718) 785-4520.

Sunday, November 10

2:00 p.m.
WHO'S THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR?
1968, 90 minutes. With Harvey Keitel. Preceded by WHAT'S A NICE GIRL LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS? 1963, 9 mins., IT'S NOT JUST YOU, MURRAY 1964, 15 mins., THE BIG SHAVE 1967, 6 mins. Scorsese's heartfelt debut--a charming romance layered with Catholic guilt, a pop soundtrack, and sharp editing--revealed three major talents: Scorsese, Keitel, and Schoonmaker. The student films were made at NYU.

4:30 p.m.
MEAN STREETS
See Saturday, November 9, 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 16

2:00 p.m.
BOXCAR BERTHA
American International, 1972, 88 minutes. With Barbara Hershey. Using producer Roger Corman as an entree into Hollywood and a DGA card, Scorsese made this B-movie about a real-life couple on the run from union busters who get involved in underground crime. Hershey gave Scorsese a copy of The Last Temptation of Christ during the shoot, inspiring BERTHA's conclusion, and Scorsese's two-decade odyssey to film the novel.

4:00 p.m.
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
Warner Bros., 1974, 112 minutes. With Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson. Burstyn recommended Scorsese as the director of this story of a single mother and would-be singer who finds love while working in a diner. Burstyn's choice proved wise; she won an Oscar, and the film's success advanced Scorsese's burgeoning career.

Sunday, November 17

1:30 p.m.
TAXI DRIVER
Columbia Pictures, 1976, 113 mins. With Robert DeNiro, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster. Scorsese's brooding film about the obsessive Travis Bickle reveals New York at its most unsavory. This latter-day noir classic sealed Scorsese's reputation as a major filmmaker, while also showcasing brilliant collaborative work by DeNiro, screenwriter Paul Schrader, cinematographer Michael Chapman, and composer Bernard Herrmann.

3:45 p.m.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
United Artists, 1977, 164 mins. With Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli. Scorsese's ode to classic MGM musicals and 1940s jazz marked a departure of sorts for him, combining his gritty hard-boiled realism with a celebration of the surreal artificiality of Hollywood (exemplified by the fantastic "Happy Endings" number). Minnelli belts out the now-classic title song in a show-stopping finale.

Saturday, November 23

2:00 p.m.
THE LAST WALTZ
United Artists, 1978, 120 mins. With The Band, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell. In this documentary of the Band's final performance in 1976, Scorsese captures the group's unforgettable performance, but also the spirit of their music. This uncommonly well-made concert film was shot by an all-star roster of cameramen Laszlo Kovacs, Michael Chapman, and Vilmos Zsigmond.

4:15 p.m.
AMERICAN BOY
1978, 55 mins.
STREET SCENES
1970, 75 mins.
Production supervised and post-production directed by Scorsese. Steven Prince, a close friend of Scorsese's, offers anecdotes about his life (and instructions for resuscitation from a drug overdose, inspiring a key scene in PULP FICTION) in this film portrait. STREET SCENES, shot by a collective of students including Oliver Stone, documents a Manhattan protest rally against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia.

Sunday, November 24

2:00 p.m.
"A Pinewood Dialogue with Thelma Schoonmaker"
RAGING BULL
United Artists, 1980, 128 min. With Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarity. Considered by many to be Scorsese's finest film, RAGING BULL is a stark, unflinching portrayal of boxing champion Jake LaMotta. DeNiro's physical transformations in the film are astonishing, and Michael Chapman's high-contrast black-and-white photography gives the film a raw edge, but it is Thelma Schoonmaker's inventive editing of the fight sequences--each with a different look and rhythm--that make the film so riveting. Schoonmaker will discuss her ongoing collaboration with Scorsese following the film.

Saturday, November 30

2:00 p.m.
THE KING OF COMEDY
Twentieth Century Fox, 1983, 101 min. With Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard. In this underrated satire about fandom and the pursuit of fame, De Niro is astonishing as Rupert Pupkin, a delusional aspiring comic who enlists an overzealous fan (Bernhard) in his deranged scheme to kidnap a talk show host (Lewis). Scorsese fills the screen with bright whites and reds, an ironically cheerful palate for this tense, dark comedy.

4:00 p.m.
AFTER HOURS
Warner Bros., 1985, 97 min. Preceded by AMAZING STORIES: "Mirror, Mirror" 1986, 24 mins. With Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette. A low-budget, high-anxiety comedy, AFTER HOURS follows an uptight office worker's night of downtown misadventures. In its fish-out-of-water vision of the pre-gentrification mid-1980s Soho art scene, Scorsese packs the film with hyperbolic characters and screwball situations. For his episode of AMAZING STORIES, Scorsese portrays a horror filmmaker haunted by phantoms he sees in reflective surfaces.

Sunday, December 1

2:00 p.m.
THE COLOR OF MONEY
Touchstone Pictures, 1986, 119 mins. With Paul Newman, Tom Cruise. Although technically a sequel to THE HUSTLER, the quarter-century time gap between films, the switch to color, and Scorsese's dynamic style allow THE COLOR OF MONEY to stand on its own as a solid star vehicle. Newman returns as slick pool shooter Fast Eddie, and then-rising star Cruise plays his apprentice.

4:15 p.m.
CAPE FEAR
Universal Pictures, 1991, 128 mins. With Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis. In this remake of the film noir cult favorite, Scorsese managed the unlikely feat of creating one of his darkest and most commercially successful films. A lean and tattooed De Niro plays psychopath ex-con Max Cady, who terrorizes the lawyer who sent him to prison by trying to seduce his teenage daughter and attacking his wife.

Saturday, December 7

2:00 p.m.
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
Universal Pictures, 1988, 163 mins. With Willem Dafoe, Barbara Hershey. Scorsese's humanistic portrayal of Jesus Christ was a labor of love that was delayed when Paramount stopped pre-production and protested by religious groups when the film was finally completed. Dafoe convincingly portrays Jesus as a mortal undergoing an astonishing transformation, and Peter Gabriel's score beautifully integrates ambient electronic tones with global music instrumentation.

5:00 p.m.
"Short Works"
NEW YORK STORIES: "Life Lessons" Touchstone Pictures, 1988, 44 mins. BAD 1987, 16 mins. MADE IN MILAN 1990, 20 mins. And Armani commercials 1986, 1988. In his segment for NEW YORK STORIES, Scorsese explores the relationship between the creative process and romantic angst, as Nolte pays a painter dealing with an ex-girlfriend and a creative block. In an extended music video that bursts from black-and-white to color, Scorsese presents Michael Jackson as a turnstile-jumping juvenile delinquent prowling the subways. Scorsese's short work with Armani explores the artistry and the life of the legendary Italian designer.

Sunday, December 8

1:00 p.m.
GOODFELLAS
Warner Bros., 1990, 146 mins. With Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci. With GOODFELLAS, Scorsese redefined the gangster film by humanizing it--taking the viewer inside the characters' minds to understand their drives and fears. He masterfully uses every film technique in the book to demonstrate Henry Hill's attraction to a life of crime, his nervous addiction, and his isolation in going straight.

4:00 p.m.
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
Columbia Pictures, 1993, 139 mins. With Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer. In this exquisite adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel, Scorsese focused not on physical but on emotional violence, and the subjectivity of love. The period details are painstakingly recreated, and Scorsese uses an array of editing and photographic tricks to emphasize the meaningful gestures and unspoken sentiments.

Saturday, December 14

2:00 p.m.
KUNDUN
Touchstone, 1997, 114 mins. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Musical in structure, and supported by a vibrant score by Philip Glass that reverberates with low Tibetan horns, this dreamlike, sensual study of the early life of the Dalai Lama is far from Scorsese's typical urban milieu. Lush gold and maroon hues fill the screen, and the film's beautifully conceived tapestry-like structure was underappreciated at the time of its release.

4:15 p.m.
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
Touchstone Pictures, 1999, 121 mins. With Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette. An insomniac ambulance driver spends his endless nights attempting to save lives but needs to be rescued himself. Adapted by Paul Schrader from the book by Joe Connelly, the film drew unavoidable comparisons to TAXI DRIVER; this time Scorsese's vision of the urban landscape is noticeably less bleak but equally intense.

Sunday, December 15

2:00 p.m.
CASINO
Universal Pictures, 1995, 172 mins. With Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods. Scorsese's breathtaking epic about corruption in Sin City probes the minute details of casino operations and the larger issues of human betrayal. The film's lavish spectacle--its marquee flashing lights, insider narration, dizzying quick cuts, and infinite rainbow of costumes--effectively reflect the characters' emotions and confusion. (Many of the costumes from the film are currently on display at the Museum in the exhibition "Robert DeNiro: Costume and Character.")

Saturday and Sunday, December 21 + 22

2:00 p.m.
A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH MARTIN SCORSESE THROUGH AMERICAN MOVIES Channel Four Films, 1995, 224 mins. Directed by Martin Scorsese. In celebration of cinema's 100-year anniversary, the BBC commissioned Scorsese to make a documentary tribute to his favorite movies and directors. He offers witty, insightful observations about his idiosyncratic favorites--such as John Ford, Vincent Minnelli, and Samuel Fuller--and incorporates well-chosen clips from a wide variety of films.

Saturday and Sunday, December 28 + 29

2:00 p.m.
MY VOYAGE TO ITALY
Mediatrade, 2001, 246 mins. With MY VOYAGE TO ITALY, a lovingly crafted and deeply felt documentary valentine, Scorsese pays tribute to the Italian films that have influenced him, from Giovanni Pastrone's CABIRIA to De Sica's THE BICYCLE THIEF to Fellini's I VITELLONI, which inspired MEAN STREETS. Filled with carefully chosen and beautifully explicated scenes, the film offers an intoxicating crash-course in world cinema.

MUSEUM INFORMATION
Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Group tours by appointment, Tuesday through Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Museum Admission: $8.50 for adults; $5.50 for persons over 65 and for students with ID; $4.50 for children ages 5-18. Children 4 and under and Museum members are admitted free.
Film programs: Film screenings are free with Museum admission unless otherwise noted. Reservation privileges are available to Museum members only.
Location: 35 Avenue at 36 Street in Astoria. Subway: R or V trains (R or G on weekends) to Steinway Street. N train to Broadway.
Program Information: Telephone: (718) 784-0077; Web site: <http://www.ammi.org>

The Pinewood Dialogues, an ongoing series of in-depth conversations with creative talents involved in film, television, and digital media, are made possible by a generous grant from the Pinewood Foundation.

The American Museum of the Moving Image occupies a building owned by the City of New York. With the assistance of the Queens Borough President and the Queens Delegation of the New York City Council, the Museum receives support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Vital support is also provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation), the National Science Foundation, corporations, foundations, and individuals.

American Museum of the Moving Image
35 Avenue at 36 Street,
Astoria, New York, 11106

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