Formal Film Study: Scorsese

Scorsese is commonly referred to as one of the top directors of film ever. He has an impressive resume` and deserves the acclaim that he has gotten. He comes from an actor of a father and an actress of a mother, neither of whom were as highly acclaimed as Martin himself. His parents were both immigrants from Sicily who settled in New York City. The influence of his heritage is prevalent in many of his films including some of the best like Goodfellas and Casino. Scorsese was also raised a devout catholic and at one point considered giving up his love for cinema to become a preist. The films researched in this film study were Raging Bull, Gangs of New York, and Mean Streets.

The interesting part of studying these films was that each film was a different type of Scorsese film. There was a classic gang film and a film by each of Scorsese's go to actors, DeNiro and DiCaprio. One thing I noticed relative to the plot in many Scorsese films is that the main character who is meant to be portrayed as the tough guy is broken down and shown to be weak. This makes his "gangster" films unique in the fact that the gangster is not portrayed as invincible as in most gangster films. He goes inside the lives of the gangster versus just showing the actions and crime committed by the gangster. He also has a way in many of his films of making you love and hate the main character and different points in the movie. This is again unique becuase in many films in general it is usually one or the other but not both. 

Culture plays a major role in Scorsese's films as well. Scorsese seemed to have a skill of being able to tie in his background with some of the great films he has made. In both raging bull and Mean streets the Italian-American culture is portrayed in a positive light. Subtle messages about the culture itself are made in small scenes or in the background of bigger scenes. The message is sent by showing italian cooking, music, or the importance of family. Rarely have we seen this culture portrayed in a negative light. 

Scorsese also uses shot angles to help emphasize important scenes and important dialouge between characters. Things like using the camera to seem like the viewer is sitting at the table while a conversation are used often when dialogue between three or more characters is taking place. Shots like high angle shots and low angle shots are used in places like stairwells or from the ground to a balcony is used when there is dialogue between two characters taking place.
One main theme I saw prevalent throughout Scorsese's films is his use of dark colors. Many scenes both important and unimportant scenes have a dark color to them. Black background or darkened background is often used to help emphasize characters faces and actions. This is especially prevalent during moments of intense dialogue.

One minor theme I noticed throughout Scorsese's films, is that there often times tends to be moments of intense violence. This is not always unexpected but nevertheless present. I think that it adds to the film's realism and helps make the viewer feel more engaged.

MovieFone. "Martin Scorsese." AOL Moviefone. AOL, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2013.
Links to Movie Reviews:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mean-streets/Film?oid=1057472
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952867-1,00.html
http://observer.com/2003/01/gruesome-never-gratuitous-gangs-of-new-york-rings-true/