FORMAL FILM STUDY: Martin Scorsese

I'm happy to say that my days of never having seen a Martin Scorsese film are over. I wanted to focus this study on Scorsese, one, because I had never seen a full-length film directed by him, and two, because of how much I had heard about him. Since I wasn't familiar with the works of Scorsese at the start of this study, I wanted to pick movies that decently spanned his career. The three movies that I went with are Taxi Driver (1976), Goodfellas (1990), and Gangs of New York (2002). These movies are all set in New York and have some crime element to them. Scorsese himself was raised in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, by Italian-American parents. It seems as if Scorsese's childhood has influenced his movies in a significant way. A few major things I noted about these movies was the use of sound, distinctive camera-work and cinematography, and the heavy use of narration. But back to these later. 

First, I'll start off with a little background from each of the movies....
Goodfellas was the first of the three movies that I watched. I had high expectations since I had heard a lot about it and since it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in 1991. Ray Liotta plays Henry Hill, who works with his gangster friends (including Robert De Niro as James

Conway and Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito) to move up in the Mob hierarchy in New York. This film is an adaptation of Wiseguys, a non-fiction book written in 1986. The thing that I noticed first about this movie was the use of narration. The first fifteen minutes after the opening scene were narrated by Henry Hill as the viewer watched him grow up and live his dream of being a gangster. Music is used in a big way throughout the film. More than 35 different songs were used throughout! This made the film more exciting to watch and gave more information about the time period in which it was set. The camera work was very distinctive and unlike anything I had seen before. Often times during this movie at the peak of intense moments a freeze frame would be used while narration was going on over it. I noticed that the camera does a lot of panning and weaving throughout the movie, which I came to realize-after watching the other two movies-that this type of camera-work is typical of Scorsese films. 

Gangs of New York, the second movie I watched, surprised me a little because it was very different from the rawness of Goodfellas and wasn't what I was expecting at all. It was quirkier and altogether a pretty weird movie and I was surprised to read that it was one that Scorsese had been working on for a while-it was somewhat of a passion project for him. This movie

centers around Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) who seeks revenge against the man who killed his father many years ago in a gang fight in the Five Points district of New York. Once again, music was a big part of this movie, however, the type of music differed from what was played in Goodfellas. In Gangs of New York most of the music that was used was instrumental, such as beating drums or bagpipes. One scene that was made even more weird by the music was the huge gang fight near the beginning of the movie in which Vallon's dad was killed. The music didn't sound like it should have been playing during a fight scene, which made for a weird juxtaposition. Another scene in which music is used in an interesting way is also near the beginning when a character in Vallon's gang kicks down a door revealing a snowy New York and the beating drums in the background abruptly stop. This created a disorienting scene that made it feel like something else unexpected was going to happen. Also like Goodfellas, narration plays a part in this movie. A lot of it is narrated by the main character, Amsterdam Vallon. The use of narration in this movie is interesting because most of the time Vallon is a pretty quiet character, so the narration lets the viewer get into his head a little more. 

Taxi Driver was the last in this series of movies that I watched, and probably my favorite of the three. It is about a former Marine, Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro, who works as a late-night taxi driver in the streets of New York City. His becomes more violent throughout the movie and becomes more fed up with the dirtiness of the streets and people who occupy them. Along the way he attempts to change the lifestyle of a young prostitute, played by Jodie Foster. Music in this movie served to highlight the isolation felt by Travis. (Interestingly there is a lot of beating drums in the music--like in Gangs of New York).The music used was mostly sad-sounding and instrumental.  Travis often remains silent in the company of others and only expresses his main feelings through writing in a journal. Also serving to demonstrate Travis's feelings of loneliness was the heavy use of narration. Since Travis hardly talks when around others, his narration shows what he is thinking. 

The main theme that I wanted to explore in depth for this study is Scorsese's camera work. The cinematography is very distinctive and makes these movies so much more interesting and exciting to watch. In each movie I noticed that Scorsese favors tracking shots in which he follows (usually from behind) his subject for a significant length of time. A great example of this shot is in Goodfellas, when Henry Hill and his date are being followed through a nightclub scene to a dining table (see video below for the infamous Copacabana nightclub tracking shot). 

Another tracking shot scene in this movie is one in a bar where the viewer is introduced to a multitude of gangsters, who all look directly into the camera to introduce themselves. In Gangs of New York, the camera pans and weaves throughout underground caves as it keeps up with a young Amsterdam Vallon and his dad as they make their way outside to the big gang fight. I found these scenes with a tracking shot incredibly fun to watch because it felt like I was a part of the movie. Also, rarely does the viewer see actors looking directly into the camera (like in the bar scene in Goodfellas). Another interesting technique of Scorsese's was using slow camera movements, slow-motion, and freeze frames. In Taxi Driver, slow camera movements help to demonstrate Travis's loneliness. In Gangs of New York, slow motion is used in the beginning when Vallon and his gang are walking through the underground tunnels. Goodfellas makes use of the freeze-frame. I noted that many scenes would freeze at moments of peak intensity. 

Another very important theme that connected these three movies was the use of music and sound. In all of these movies there was hardly a time where there was no music or sounds playing in the background. In Goodfellas, this music served to set the stage and make the movie more exciting to watch. As for Taxi Driver, the more instrumental music exemplified Travis's loneliness in the busy cities of New York. The music of Gangs of New York intensified battle scenes and created for interesting juxtapositions in some scenes. Narration was also an important aspect in each of these movies. It served to let the viewer into the character's head when there was no other way in. How else would we witness any better the descent into violent madness that De Niro's character experiences in Taxi Driver? Henry Hill narrating his own childhood made for an interesting introduction to Goodfellas. And in Gangs of New York, narration added yet another layer to the complexity of everything that was going on throughout the movie. 

According to Box Office Mojo, Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, and Goodfellas are the seventh, eighth, and ninth top earners of (adjusted) gross income for Scorsese's films, respectively (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/ view=Director&id=martinscorsese.htm&sort=opengross&order=DESC&p=.htm). It's interesting that these three are all right next to each other in the chart, considering Scorsese has directed over twenty films. Seeing these movies has given me a good idea of what a Scorsese film is like, and left me wanting to see more of his work. This study has allowed me to see how much influence a director has on a movie. There are obvious parallels between the three movies I watched, such as cinematography and sound, which label them as Scorsese movies. I now better understand how a director's style can impact a movie. In terms of style, Martin Scorsese's distinct cinematography and use of sound have left me loving what I have seen from him and wanting to see more.