I got Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective by Tom Shone for Christmas this year. Not being the biggest reader, I didn’t expect I was going to make it through the whole thing. It’s not a full fledged novel but more of a coffee table book with a lot of content and pictures of his filmmaking process.

     I started flipping through the pages and quickly found myself at the end of it. I think the reason it’s so easy to get through is its organization. Instead of following Scorsese’s entire life, it’s split up amongst each of his films(in chronological order). There’s also a section briefly focused on his childhood and an epilogue about his documentaries and legacy. 

     The book helps highlight the influences and progression of each one of his films and movie career in general. It adds an extra layer of depth to Scorsese’s films. For example, Goodfellas is somewhat of an allegory for Scorsese’s rise as a director, move to LA, and drug addiction that sent him back to New York in search for a career resurgence. It’s similar to Henry Hill’s glory days in the mob and subsequent cocaine addiction that sends him into a pit full of chaos.

     As you read, you encounter a lot of cool little anecdotes about the interactions between Scorsese and his collaborators. The book talks about the funny way Harvey Keitel landed his role in Mean Streets and how Leonardo DiCaprio got on Scorsese’s radar. They aren’t life changing things but they’re intriguing stories to learn more about.

     With all of his success, you often don’t think about all the difficulties Scorsese has had to endure throughout his career. He was an struggling independent director hit hard by the rise of blockbuster films like Alien and Star Wars. It got so bad that by Raging Bull, he thought his career was over. At the time, the film was a last effort to make a mark on the film industry. 

     As you read about each film, you often get references to him coming across scripts that would later inspire his future projects. The Last Temptation of Christ was a passion project of his that studios didn’t want to make and that he thought would never happen. Gangs of New York was another script he had been eyeing for years. It’s interesting to see what deals he had to make to get some films green-lit and how he had to prove himself with other projects in order to get a chance to direct his favorite screenplays.  

     Flipping through the pages, I didn’t realize how many films Scorsese has directed. I was aware of lot of them but I had no idea about a good amount of the smaller ones. I’m eager to watch all of Scorsese’s filmography and see what different subject matters and genres he’s explored.

    The book also discusses Scorsese’s relationship with Catholicism. I was completely unaware about his long-time dream to be a priest. By dedicating his life to film, he says he was able to explore a different type of faith and spirituality. To him, film is almost a religion that can be used as a vehicle for imparting certain messages on the public. It gets me a lot more excited for his upcoming film Silence because I see how its story is so personal to him. Not only is he religious, but with his experiences in film and questioning of faith, the message means that much more.

     If the Martin Scorsese: A Retrospective sounds really interesting to you I’d definitely recommend picking it up. Even if it isn’t, you should watch as many of Scorsese’s films that interest you and research online about the reasoning behind the projects and stories about what happened on set. Scorsese has had a long-lasting career and I look up to him even more after this book. 

     Here is a list of some of my recommendations for Scorsese movies: Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, Hugo, and The Wolf of Wall Street