Martin Scorsese, Oscar winning director with numerous other awards and nominations. Some regard him as the king of the gangster or wise guy movie and has a dedicated bunch of actors that love to work for him including Robert De Niro, Daniel Day Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. His frank, visual storytelling of characters and their lives have bought him critical acclaim and diehard fans but like many other bankable directors not everything they touch turns to gold…
Highs:
Goodfellas is considered by many to be his finest film and spawned a flood of Goodfellas wannabes. Starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and set in his own backyard of Little Italy in New York, 20 years on, Goodfellas is still winning new fans.
The Departed is Scorsese’s largest grossing film to date and featured Leonardo DiCaprio in their second collaboration (the first being Gangs of New York) and earned Scorsese the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Motion Picture.
Lows:
This grand, romantic drama was adored by film critics who claimed it was Scorsese’s Barry Lydon but despite lavish visuals and stunning titles the film failed to impress audiences and it was a box office bomb.
Shutter Island sees Leonardo DiCaprio back with Scorsese in this psychological thriller that has seen a great box office opening weekend but has received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike with some citing the film lacks Scorsese magic and a coherent story. Time will tell if it becomes another Age of Innocence.
