The legendary actor, director, producer and writer, Martin Scorsese turns 68 today! He is known for the unflinchingly graphic and realistic violence, editing movies cut to the music, Strong religious themes and use of religious symbolism. He usually begins his films with segments taken from the middle or end of the story.
Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942, in Queens, New York, US to Charles Scorsese and Catherine Scorsese, both actors. After serious deliberations about entering the priesthood - he entered a seminary in 1956, Scorsese opted to channel his passions into film. He graduated from NYU as a film major in 1964. Also in 1967, Scorsese made his first feature-length film, the black and white I Call First, which was later retitled Who's That Knocking at My Door with fellow student, actor Harvey Keitel, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, both of whom were to become long-term collaborators.
In 1972, Scorsese made the Depression-era exploiter Boxcar Bertha for B-movie producer Roger Corman, who had also helped directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and John Sayles launch their careers. His next movie Mean Streets (1973) provided the benchmarks for the Scorsese style: New York settings, loners struggling with inner demons, pointed-shoes rock-meets-opera soundtracks and unrelenting cathartic violence.
After Scorsese directed Ellen Burstyn to a Best Actress Oscar in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), the trio was reunited for the dark journey of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976). The film achieved additional notoriety five years after its release when Bickle's (De Niro) concern for a teenaged hooker played by Jodie Foster inspired John Hinckley's assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
After New York, New York (1977) and The Last Waltz (1978), Scorsese released Raging Bull (1980) dedicated to his mentor Haig Manoogian. The biography of middleweight fighter Jake LaMotta was selected as the best film of the decade by U.S. critic gods Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Scorsese then explored fans as pariah - The King of Comedy (1983), dark-comic dreams - After Hours (1985), and revisited pool shark Eddie Felson from The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986) with Paul Newman.
Even in the recent years, he has given cinematically brilliant award-winning movies like The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010) and Hugo (2011). Long live the legend for the audience that looks forward to watching more from him.
FridayMoviez wishes Martin Scorses a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!