Scorsese Universe
@scorsesepoint • 37,635 subscribers
Fan account of Martin Scorsese. We are not related to him in any way.
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It's so terrifying how real this feels. He's dealing with very relatable issues in the modern world like lack of purpose and loneliness, but he's responding to them in a completely unhinged and self sabotaging way. And especially on rewatch, we can see how corny he is. He's looking pretty tough in the first few shots: getting in shape. Then at the gun range he's blinking and flinching as he fires, like most of us would. He's not an archetypal movie killer, he's a normal, weird, corny, loser guy. He flexes just to see his own arms, he practices drawing the guns in front of the mirror to see if he looks cool and intimidating, but his physical movements are quite effeminate in those shots, not really tough or scary. He's an fascinating and believable character because Scorsese and De Niro did such a good job at making him a nuanced, interesting, spooky, determined, violent, badass, corny, loser guy.
Scorsese Universe126,634 Aufrufe • vor 15 Tagen
The coldest scene in The Irishman has no violence in it. Russell Bufalino pours cereal at a breakfast table and tells Frank Sheeran that Hoffa is already gone. Not dead yet. But finished — the decision made, upstairs, by people Frank can't argue with. That's what makes "either way, he's going" so bad to hear. Russell isn't raising a possibility. He's reading out a verdict, and he doesn't stop eating to do it. Pesci built a career on men who could go off at any second — Tommy in Goodfellas, Nicky in Casino, danger measured in volume. Russell is the opposite. He doesn't raise his voice or threaten Frank or put down the spoon. The power is in the stillness. When Russell says a thing will happen, the film makes you feel the world has already rearranged itself around the sentence. Which is why it's cereal and not a gun. The gesture is almost fatherly. He's feeding Frank while ending him, keeping him safe while making him betray the man he loves. "We did everything we could for the man" sounds like sympathy. It's permission — the words Frank will need later to live with it. We tried. We warned him. De Niro barely speaks and you watch it land anyway. It settles behind his eyes: this was never only about Hoffa. The bosses could have marked Frank too. Russell isn't just telling him Jimmy dies. He's reminding him that he and his wife are breathing because Russell decided they would. "You're with me." It should be a comfort. In this film friendship doesn't pull you out of the machine. It only sets the order — who gets eaten now, who gets eaten later. That's the scene that drops the temperature of the whole movie. No bravado, no code, no glory. Old men at a table deciding which friend gets spent. Frank isn't choosing between right and wrong. He's choosing between Jimmy and "us," and by the time the bowl is empty he knows the choice was made without him.
Scorsese Universe236,948 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
One of the saddest scenes in Taxi Driver (1976) is just two people having breakfast. Travis has brought Iris to a diner because he wants to convince her to leave Sport. He expects the situation to be obvious: she is a child, Sport is exploiting her, and going home should be the easiest decision in the world. Iris does not experience it that way. She talks about Sport as if he were a boyfriend. She brings up astrology, defends him and brushes off Travis’s concern. None of this means she understands what is happening to her. It means she has already learned how to make it sound normal. That is the most disturbing part of the conversation. Iris describes exploitation using the language of love, loyalty and freedom. Then she pours sugar over her jelly. It lasts only a second, but it breaks through the whole performance. Iris may wear sunglasses, speak in street slang and insist that she can make her own decisions, but she still eats breakfast like a kid. Jodie Foster never pushes the moment. Iris is not presented as a helpless symbol waiting to be rescued. She is funny, stubborn, suspicious and sometimes more socially aware than Travis. Then a small gesture reminds you how young she really is. Travis is unusually gentle with her. He listens. He lowers his voice. He gives her money and tries, in his broken way, to offer an escape. He is also imagining himself as her savior. That is the danger underneath his concern. Travis correctly sees that Iris needs help, but he cannot help anyone without turning the situation into a story about himself. Her rescue becomes another chance for him to prove that he has a purpose. Knowing what comes later makes the quietness of the diner difficult to watch. Here, Travis looks almost capable of helping her like a normal person. Later, he enters the building with guns and leaves bodies behind him. The film never asks us to choose between the two versions of him. His concern for Iris may be genuine. So is his desire for violence. He can recognize that a child is being harmed, but he cannot imagine saving her without becoming the hero of a bloodbath. For a few minutes over breakfast, Travis almost looks like someone Iris could trust. Almost.
Scorsese Universe196,750 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
Which movie has the most iconic fourth-wall break? I’ll start: Goodfellas (1990)
Scorsese Universe1,721,946 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr
The guy playing Fat Andy was a real NYPD detective. Louis Eppolito was moonlighting as a hitman for the Lucchese family while this movie was being shot. He'd already killed for them by the time he stood in the Bamboo Lounge. A mob boss flipped years later and gave him up. He died in a federal cell in 2019. Scorsese put an active mafia murderer in the scene and didn't know it
Scorsese Universe99,321 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
This scene isn’t as simple as you think. it tells you exactly what you need to know about De Niro’s character. The way he sloppy walks in after taking his pants off, with two gorgeous women at his side, him waving and yelling to his friends across the bar with a grin across his face. Not to mention the red lighting and the fact that it’s filmed in slo-mo just is telling the reader this guy is slick, and an asshole. The best part is Harvey Keitel’s acting just shows that he’s looking at De Niro like, “Dude needs a mentor or something.” Even the bartender has an opinion and is chuckling and smirking as if to say, “What a douchebag!” One of the best entrances of all time and one of my favorite scenes
Scorsese Universe75,507 Aufrufe • vor 28 Tagen
This movie is the best depiction of mid 1970s New York City.
Scorsese Universe57,899 Aufrufe • vor 24 Tagen
Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Casino, 1995
Scorsese Universe956,624 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr
