I watched the five episodes of the series Mr. Scorsese, having re-upped our AppleTV subscription in order to see it. The filmmaker, Rebecca Miller, daughter of Arthur Miller and wife of Daniel Day-Lewis, had unbeatable access, and she did a great job. I think it could have been even better, but I'm not complaining. Personally, it helped me see why I was so attracted to the story of the Walpole Society--a closed world I could not enter. Scorsese's films are often about such worlds and outsiders trying in vain to get into them. See Rupert Pupkin and of course Travis Bickle. It irks me that an editor I consulted about possibly publishing my series on the Walpole Society objected to the title, "Good Fellows." People might confuse it with Goodfellas, he said. Exactly! That was the point! -- although it was also designed to resonate with Dr. Johnson's definition of club. Sometimes, too, in Scorsese films, gaining entry to a closed world is like the famous caveat about answered prayers: more tears are shed over them than unanswered ones. See Henry Hill and Jordan Belfort.
A few more observations: Scorsese films are very Catholic, I've always noticed: Mean Streets, Silence. The violence is notoriously extreme -- Gangs of New York -- but both Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi (author of Wiseguys and Casino) stress that everything is based on real life, fact -- just like Margaret Atwood says about her work. Mr. Scorsese makes much of the director's decades-long collaboration and friendship with Robert De Niro. The point is made that, after Scorsese nearly died from cocaine addiction and its effects, De Niro pulled him out of it with the idea of doing Raging Bull. The film ends with an image of the two aging artists together in what appears to be a quintessential New York alley, maybe back in the old neighborhood.
A few more observations: Scorsese films are very Catholic, I've always noticed: Mean Streets, Silence. The violence is notoriously extreme -- Gangs of New York -- but both Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi (author of Wiseguys and Casino) stress that everything is based on real life, fact -- just like Margaret Atwood says about her work. Mr. Scorsese makes much of the director's decades-long collaboration and friendship with Robert De Niro. The point is made that, after Scorsese nearly died from cocaine addiction and its effects, De Niro pulled him out of it with the idea of doing Raging Bull. The film ends with an image of the two aging artists together in what appears to be a quintessential New York alley, maybe back in the old neighborhood.
RSS Feed
