Martin Scorsese

I recently wrote a paper on Martin Scorsese's passion project The Last Temptation of Christ. In my research I had the welcome task of watching a bunch of his early movies that had not seen before including some of his short films from NYU. Below is Its not just you, Murray in two parts:

The film is a fascinating piece that foreshadows much of Scorsese's later work, in particular Goodfellas. However it is one line in particular that stood out to me as absolutely fascinating. At minute 6:17 in part one Joe says:

Murray, whenever anything ever happens to you... well you gotta learn to control yourself. You know always control yourself. Don't do anything. Don't say a word. You gotta stop, you gotta pull yourself together. You gotta take it easy. In other words murray when people bother you, hit you, abuse you, curse you, you know what i mean murray? When they really really bother you. Well Murray, don't do nothing. No sir, because remember that one day, murray, one day, you're gonna see somebody, some guy, who is all those other guys rolled into one and then you can give him all he deserves.

At this moment Murray punches a mirror reflecting his own face. This brilliant and fascinating juxtaposition of word and images, which echo Christ's passion, speaks challengingly to our tendency to place blame outside ourselves.

Scorsese is brilliant director, whose faith and Catholic upbringing are interwoven into almost all of his films. Despite often containing both graphic violent and sexual content, Scorsese's films are rarely  gratuitous but rather use explicit images for powerfully effective, realistic, thoughtful and challenging storytelling and communication of ideas. He is considered perhaps the greatest American director alive today and in my estimation this accolade is not unwarranted.

For the mature and thoughtful viewer I recommend: Mean Streets and Last Temptation
For the conservative but equally thoughtful viewer: Bringing out the Dead and Hugo