Whether it's because the city looks great on film or because he grew up there, celebrated director Martin Scorsese has always been infatuated with New York.
Seeing the city as a backdrop in his movies is to be as expected as hearing '60s rock music and character narration. Between 19th century-based romantic dramas, paramedic-led psychological dramas, and countless gangster movies, it's clear Scorsese has a deep and personal connection to the city, whether he's written the screenplay or not.
10 Bringing Out The Dead (1999) - 6.8
Bringing Out The Dead is an outlier in Scorsese's filmography, despite the fact that it's based in New York in the dead of night. The movie follows Frank, a paramedic who falls into a downward spiral after years of a strenuous career and having seen so many deaths. Frank takes drugs, hallucinates, and even sees the ghosts of the people he watched die, and it's full of moments of intense psychological horror.
But that might be why it isn't loved by everybody, as audiences typically tune in to a Scorsese-directed movie for a very specific kind of film. However, the Manhattan-based movie is full of Nicolas Cage's frenetic acting, which is a perfect fit with Scorsese's fast-paced tracking shots and editing.
9 The Age Of Innocence (1993) - 7.2
The Age of Innocence is an unusually slow-paced film for Martin Scorsese, as it's a period drama full of romance and sentimentality. The movie is about upper-class 19th-century New York society and it depicts a bourgeois NY that very few people ever got to experience.
And on the face of it, it seems like a very conventional but beautiful looking Jane Austen-like story, but, of course, there's more than meets the eye. Though the director is best known for gritty portrayals of gang violence, FilmSchoolRejects mentioned that Scorsese said Age of Innocence was, "the most violent film [he] ever made."
8 Mean Streets (1973) - 7.2
Mean Streets is the blueprint for most Martin Scorsese movies, and he is still using the trademarks he began using in this movie, today. From the improvisational dialogue and the fast-paced camera work to the disturbed main characters, these tropes can still be found in The Irishman, 46 years later.
But it was also the first of many Scorsese movies that portrayed New York in a way that seemed as if the director had a love/hate relationship with the place. In Mean Streets, the Big Apple is seedy and shows a real underbelly that most people don't get to see. And although it's far from his best movie according to fans on IMDb, it's Scorsese's highest-rated movie as per Metacritic, with a stunning score of 96.
7 Gangs Of New York (2002) - 7.5
Gangs of New York is the most Scorsese-sounding movie title ever, as it includes the two things he's known for the most: gangs and New York. And the movie does exactly what it says on the tin, as it's an epic period crime film unlike any other. But despite this, it also has some parallels to the romantic Age of Innocence. Both movies feature starring roles from Daniel Day-Lewis and both depict New York in the 19th century.
However, though it'd be safe to assume that Scorsese makes movies based in NY so much because he loves being there, the 2002 epic wasn't actually shot in New York It was shot in Italy, as it was the easiest way to build an entire mile-long stretch of 19th century NY buildings. Since then, the director has seemingly abandoned the technique of filming in one country to make it look like another.
6 After Hours (1985) - 7.7
This film stands out in the director's catalog for many reasons, as it's his first attempt at comedy. The whole movie takes place over one night, which is unusual given that most of Scorsese's films are epics that span decades. Given that it takes place over a few hours and Paul is constantly being chased through NY, After Hours almost feels like a mix of The Warriors and Manhattan.
As Woody Allen is known for essentially playing an exaggerated version of himself in most of the movies in which he stars, it's easy to imagine him in the main role of After Hours. Paul is a fast talker, sarcastic, and a victim of constant bad luck. After Hours shows a part of New York that Scorsese hasn't returned to -- a trendy SoHo full of art galleries and bars -- and it's the perfect setting for the movie. The way New York is depicted here is alluring, as the neon lights and thriving nightlife almost make the audience want to head to the city, immediately.
5 The King Of Comedy (1982) - 7.8
Some Redditors have the unpopular opinion that Joker is a carbon copy of The King of Comedy. And while the two do have their similarities, as the 1982 movie is about a nobody wanting to become famous, there are some distinct differences between them. Upon its release, the latter film was a massive flop, but it has since become a cult hit.
Unlike most of Scorsese´s movies based in New York, the city doesn't have a major role in The King of Comedy, but it does feature all of the NY elements typically seen in the director's movies. Riding around in taxi cabs at night and the Brooklyn dialect will make any Martin Scorsese fan feel at home.
4 Taxi Driver (1976) - 8.2
Martin Scorsese wasn't a household name before Taxi Driver. But it was the night-time thriller that put him on the map, and the first time he truly took advantage of the attraction of New York. Everything that goes into filmmaking was in a tier of its own in the film, and it all amounted to making the gritty streets of New York look oddly romantic.
There's the incredible jazz score, the persistent mise-en-scene of the steam rising from the grates and potholes in the streets, and, of course, the yellow taxi cab, which is inherently NY and the only thing of real color in the movie.
3 The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013) - 8.2
The Wolf of Wall Street was a late-career highlight for the director, as fans loved that it harkened back to his earlier movies, like Goodfellas. Jordan Belfort even voices the narration in an extremely similar manner to Henry in the 1990 movie.
Scorsese had always made movies about criminals in New York, and The Wolf of Wall Street is no different. Wall Street has been depicted in movies before, but the Scorsese movie portrayed it in a way that had audiences living vicariously through Jordan and then feel dirty about it right afterward.
2 Raging Bull (1980) - 8.2
Raging Bull portrays New York in a way that no other Scorsese-directed movie has, as it's shot in black and white. Surprisingly enough, Scorsese doesn't spend any time using the filmmaking technique to make the city look beautiful.
This could have been because he didn't want it to seem too derivative of Woody Allen's Manhattan. Instead, Scorsese did what only Scorsese can do, and that was to make bloody boxing matches look beautiful, and it features the best-improvised scene Scorsese has ever directed.
1 Goodfellas (1990) - 8.7
Goodfellas is the greatest Martin Scorsese-directed movie and one of the greatest movies of all time according to IMDb. It features all of the director's trademarks and mixes them into one compelling, epic gangster movie and, unsurprisingly, it's based in New York.
However, although New York is the setting of the movie, relative to the runtime, the gangster movie spends the least amount of screentime showing off Scorsese's favorite city of all his movies.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3BTm5GX
0 Comments