Martin Scorsese: Master Storyteller

Paper by Markus Linecker. Viewed on DVD.

Storytelling is an ancient art which depends as much on the skill of the teller as the choice of story. In the case of filmmaking, the story also depends as much on the visual medium as on the plotline. As the man himself says, “Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out” (“FilmmakerIQ.com”). Martin Scorsese’s auteurism in his films stands out in how the external action parallels and supports the development of the inner conflict of the main character, as well as in Scorsese’s unique usage of slow motion shots and specific camera angles and shots, which can be seen in the three films Hugo (2011), Gangs of New York (2002), and The Aviator (2004). Due to his perfect implementation and his unique style, he is celebrated as one of the most important film-makers in our time.

Martin Scorsese, a man of many talents, is a director, screenwriter, producer and film historian. After attending the New York University film school and making some short films, he made his first feature film Who’s Knocking at My Door (1967). His films and the co-editing of Woodstock ( Michael Wadleigh, 1970) got recognized by Roger Corman, who offered him the chance to direct Boxcar Bertha (1972). With the following film Mean Street (1973), he set the standards for his own style. This gangster film plays in New York, iconic for a Scorsese film, and in what would become a foundation of his storytelling technique, the antagonist struggles with an inner conflict. This film also started the long-time collaboration between Robert De Niro and Scorsese. In 1976 Scorsese directed Taxi Driver with Robert De Niro in the main role, another example of a character who had to fight his own demons. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards. With this film and the following Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983) and Goodfellas (1990) he rose to an A-list director. Scorsese, multitalented in his breadth of genres, not only makes gangster movies like Cape Fear (1991) or Casino (1995), but also dramas like the Age of Innocence (1993), Bringing Out The Dead (1999), or Kundrum (1997). Scorsese also goes beyond directing: he produced Spike Lee Film Clockers (1995), for example, and the recent film about Queen Victoria, The Young Victoria (Jean-Marc Vallee, 2009). He puts on another hat as a writer; for example, he wrote the screenplays to Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence, and Casino. Scorsese also dabbled in acting: he often had a cameo. For example in Gangs of New York, he appeared as a rich homeowner, or in the film by Akira Kurosawa Dreams (1990) he played Vincent Van Gogh. And he is not only known for his feature films, but also for making documentaries. With The Last Waltz (1978), Shine a Light (2008) and Public Speaking (2010), he made himself a name in this field. Overall, the Academy has nominated him eight times for the Oscar, and in 2007 he won Best Director for The Departed (2006).

Scorsese’s films The Gangs of New York, The Aviator and Hugo are rich in plot and skillful storytelling. Gangs of New York is a historical film about the conflict between Irish immigrants and the so-called “Natives” who are citizens born in America. Bill the Butcher, leader of this latter group, killed the father of a young boy, Amsterdam, in a bloody fight. Sixteen years later, Amsterdam returns to New York to the Five Points area to revenge his father’s death. When he gets introduced to Bill the Butcher, he finds himself inadvertently saving Bill’s life and becoming a part of Bill’s inner circle. He becomes attached to the very man he wants revenge on, which creates an inner conflict in him. The Aviator is a film about the life of Howard Hughes, his success and his struggle with his obsessive compulsive condition. Hugo is beautiful, sad tale about a young boy who lives alone in the 1930s Paris train station. In it, he accidentally discovers the connection between his late father, an automaton, and an old man who is afraid of his past. All three of these films have many elements which show the auteurism of Martin Scorsese.

As has already been touched upon, in many of Scorsese’s films, the main character’s inner conflict is the driving force in the narrative. It is an internal motivation to fight against himself or to be in conflict with others. A great example of this is presented in the film The Aviator when Hughes is facing the destruction of his reputation. After Senator Brewster accuses Howard Hughes (played by Leonardo Dicaprio) publicly of fraud, Howard locks himself into his screening room. The projector is running and Howard walks through the room disturbed. The scene cuts between a black and white scene of Brewster giving a press-conference and Hughes talking to himself in the room (in color). The scene cuts to a low angle medium shot of Hughes illuminated by the light of the projector in the background still talking to himself. Then it fast cuts to a close up of his face and to the back of his head reflecting the film, a shot of the desert, in blue light. Hughes turns his head and says that he has to sleep. Then the projector starts flashing, communicating Hughes’ inner struggle. The he says disjointedly that he should drink something first, and the scene cuts to a row of milk bottles in a spotlight. He starts crazily arguing with himself that the milk is sour. With this, he questions everything around him: his life, his friends, everything he has done has gone sour, and he projects it as if he himself is expired. He continues through his psychosis, saying to himself that he should pick up the milk with his right hand and shouldn’t open it with his left; then suddenly a red light goes on and someone knocks at the door. It is Katharine Hepburn, a former lover, who wants to talk to him. He says that he can’t open the door; she says she wants to thank him what he did for her (he had her reputation protected from paparazzi) and tries to persuade him to open the door. Howard says to her in a soft voice to go away and then remains quiet, with the camera showing him sitting on the ground in front of the door. Even the people he loves he doesn’t trust: his inner turmoil takes over. The scene cuts to a tracking shot of ants surrounding a sandwich, then it fades to black and fades in to a high-angle long shot of the same theater in which Hughes, now with a beard, is sitting the middle of a bunch of trash watching the screen. It seemed that he lost his struggle with his disorder and the world outside. He stills talks repeatedly about the milk and how he can get it out of a bag without touching it. The whole scene reflects his struggle with the events of the outside world, but even more with the struggle he has with his sickness. Scorsese displays this conflict in such an outlandish way that the audience can see and feel what strange battles are going on in Hughes’ mind.

Another example of inner clashes is in Gangs of New York after the protagonist Amsterdam saves his enemy Bill’s life and he sleeps with Bill’s companion Jenny. He wakes up, Jenny lying next to him, and Bill is sitting in a chair looking at him. Amsterdam sits up and looks back at Bill, feeling embarrassed and almost frightened. Amsterdam asks if Bill’s shoulder is keeping him up, but Bill answers that he just sleeps with one eye open anyway and never sleeps much because of his enemies. Amsterdam is very uneasy, sliding back and forward, and one can see a certain anxiety. Bill asks him how old he is and Amsterdam replied he doesn’t really know, he could never figure out. Bill says he’s forty seven years old and asks Amsterdam how he thinks that Bill survived that long. Without waiting for an answer Bill says through fear. He explains that if somebody steals from him he cuts off his hand, if someone lies he cuts out his tongue, and if someone is against him he kills him. Bill says that he killed the last honorable man fifteen years ago and asked Amsterdam if he saw the killed man’s portrait downstairs (the portrait is the one of Amsterdam’s father). Suddenly Amsterdam’s look changes. Here Amsterdam’s anger starts to take over. Bill laughs and tells him that he (Amsterdam) has a murderous rage in him and that he likes it. Bill starts talking about Vallon, and Amsterdam look becomes almost piercing towards Bill. Bill talks more about Vallon and almost glorifies him for his bravery and that he died for what he believed in. The more Amsterdam listens to Bill, the more he starts struggling with his feeling towards him. Bill confides that he couldn’t look into Vallon’s eye when he killed him, and that Bill cut his own eye out because of the shame he had for not looking into his eyes. Then Bill says that he never had a son; he gets up, kisses his hand, and puts it on Amsterdam’s head, then he walks out of the room. Amsterdam starts to cry, showing beautifully the inner conflict he is going through. So long an orphan, he looks for a father figure, but he struggles because this figure is his biggest enemy, the reason he lives is to have revenge for his father’s death. He shifts between love and hate, and doesn’t know anymore what his feelings tell him.
In the film Hugo the two main characters Hugo and Georges Melies are both are driven by their own contradictory inner conflicts. Hugo struggles with the search for the secret of the automaton as a means of connecting to his dead father, and George is suffering under his past of losing his studio and his films. In one scene, Hugo and Isabelle are in George’s house and find a box in a secret compartment on top of a closet. Isabelle standing on a chair tries to get it down when suddenly the chair breaks. She falls down and so does the box, which opens up and the drawing about George’s films fly through the air. Hugo is fascinated by it, but then George opens the door and sees what is happening. His inner suffering is visible in his face when he steps into the room and faces his ruined past. He looks at the children and then at his wife who followed him. Angry and full of pain he picks up some of the drawings and starts to rip them apart. His wife tries to stop him and tells him that this is his work. In an angry and sad response, he tells Hugo that he trusted him and that is what he gets back from him. He sits down and starts to cry, held by his wife. Hugo and Isabelle leave the room. George’s burden keeps him from being happy: his inner battle eats him up and made him a bitter old man. This kind of internal conflict of a character in a Martin Scorsese film is the driving force for the whole film; it not only helps support the narrative, but also connects the viewer with processing his own inner struggle.

In terms of the visual craft of storytelling, Martin Scorsese brilliantly uses slow motion shots with either the intention to create a surreal effect or to emphasize the scene. He uses this technique to set something apart from the normal pace, to alter the normal and realistic acceptance of events. Unlike so many other directors, Scorsese doesn’t use slow motion as a way to thrill the audience but as a way to enhance the scene. “Slow motion is modified (about two-thirds actual speed) so it doesn’t call attention to itself” (Nyce, 48). For example in the beginning of Gangs of New York, there is a gang fight scene in which Scorsese applies slow motion to emphasize not the momentary violence but the brutality of the characters themselves. The scene opens with the “natives” lead by Bill the Butcher on one side and the Irish immigrant Vallon with his men on the other side. After a short conversation, insults, and fighting speeches accompanied by cheers (with beautiful low angle and medium shots to enhance the readiness and fearlessness of the assemblage), the men starting to fight. Scorsese shows the fighting scenes mostly in a subjective, medium shot and puts the audience right into the event. Even though the fight scenes are brutal, Scorsese does not glorify the violence, but shows the senselessness and physical and mental pain it involves. Scorsese uses his first slow motion shot when Hell-Cat Maggie comes flying from the back at one of the man and bites off his ear. It is taken as a low angle medium to close- up shot, amplifying the superiority of the attacker. In the next scene when Bill is fighting with his butcher axe and knife, Scorsese also shows this scene in slow motion, but mostly he uses close up shots and cuts fast between the attacker and the attacked men. The shots are almost out of focus and with the blood splattering, it becomes a surreal almost avant garde scene. Then the still-slow motion scene cuts between Bill and Vallon killing men around them. A mood of anxiety and distress comes from the very fast cuts of the fights and men falling down bloody on the ground, the instrumental rock film score supports this overwrought experience, and the close up shots draws the viewer subjectively into the middle of the event. Then Scorsese suddenly uses accelerating motion and high long shots which combined with the slow motion shots heightens the effect. When Bill kills Vallon, Scorsese switches between normal speed and slow motion and a high angle long shot tracking and tilting down to a close up shot of both men, which magnifies the importance of the event on screen. When Vallon is dying and one of the men blows a horn, the men stop fighting and Scorsese uses a slow motion, low angle, close up shot of Jack Mulraney and another of Walter McGinn turning in the direction of the dying Vallon. This reflects and enhances the horror and the reaction of the fall of Vallon in their faces. The use of slow motion helps to support the effect it has on Amsterdam, Vallon’s son, who witnesses the whole event. For him the tragic death of his father becomes almost a hypnagogic experience which will carry him throughout the film.

In The Aviator Scorsese uses slow motion in a minor capacity but in a very effective way. In the scene where Hughes and Jean Harlow step out of the car on the red carpet, surrounded by a big group of photographer, Hughes is quite disturbed by the flashing lights bulbs. To enhance this effect, Scorsese uses a slow motion close up shot of the flashing bursting light bulbs. With the combination of the flashing light, it creates a surreal and alarming effect. In the same scene Scorsese uses also a slow motion shot of Hughes stepping on one of the light bulbs; this amplifies the effect of his agitation.

In Hugo, Scorsese uses slow motion in the scene where Hugo is chased by the Station Inspector. Hugo carries his automaton wrapped up and when finally the inspector grabs him, the automaton is thrown into the air. In the next shot, the automaton flies in slow motion through the air. Hugo can escape from the Inspector, but needs his robot. The slow motion effect in this scene enhances the importance the automaton has for Hugo. Every hope and dream he has is in this mechanical man and here he is, about to lose it. Scorsese doesn’t ever overuse the slow motion technique, but only uses it to emphasize the purpose of the scene, a technique that marks a film as his.

Martin Scorsese’s use of camera angles and editing techniques are also very distinguishable as his own style. He uses expressive camera movements and strikingly formulated Steadicam tracking shots with the combination of his editing techniques to put the audience right into the middle of the film. Even though his technique is always similar with his camera angles, he is able to make an atmosphere that accords with the themes of the particular film. A great example is the cinematography in Hugo. There is a scene that starts out with Hugo watching the people in the station through the backside of the overhead train station clock. In a long take, tracking shot Hugo gets up and starts running. The shot starts out as straight on angle tracking shot, but when Hugo slides down the ladder, it tilts to a bird-eye view. It tilts back to straight-on angle shot, and when Hugo shoots down the slide, it tilts to a high angle shot tracking him down to the end of the slide, becomes again a straight angle shot when Hugo runs through the clockwork mechanics, tilts to a low angle shot tracking Hugo when he climbs up the stairs, and becomes a straight-on angle when Hugo reaches the back of the clock on the other side of the station. Scorsese loves long takes and tracking shots for their sensation of continuous movement. In this scene he created a masterpiece of angles and shots; to do this in one long take shows his skills once more. The scene communicates the idea of a life that is moving like clockwork, within the very machinery of a giant clock itself.

Another great scene to observe this specific use of camera is in Gangs of New York. In the last battle scene where the Union soldiers fight against Amsterdam and Bill in the streets, it starts out with a long high angle shot of the soldiers lined up on one side of the street raising their guns and the gangs on the other side, in a showdown. Then it cuts between a medium shot of the soldiers and the gangs. The soldiers start to shoot, and in a slow motion close up shot and fast cuts, Scorsese shows the members of the gangs getting hit. This technique shows the fast and chaotic state of events. This horror and fear is also expressed in a subjective shot of hands pushing towards the camera, which creates the effect of pushing the viewer away. The close-ups of the faces show the distress in the people’s faces and eyes. Then Scorsese cuts to a medium tracking shot of the ground and the soldiers’ legs marching through the dead lying in a river of blood. This shot enhances the overpowering force of the soldiers. In the next shot Scorsese starts out with a high angle shot tilting down in a one eighty to a low angle shot of Amsterdam surrounded by his men and raising his arm, ready for the fight. The scene cuts to cannons firing and back to a low angle medium shot of Amsterdam, tilting up to a bird’s-eye-view shot. This shows them waiting for the cannonballs to hit, then the scene cuts to a long shot of the gangs standing in front of a building which gets hit by the cannonballs. This tumultuous scene really emphasizes Scorsese’s love for expressive camera movements, in this case to establish a mix between waiting and action which gives the effect of anticipation.

The cinematography in The Aviator is astonishing, as Scorsese not only uses different film stock colors for the different time periods but also in how the combination of angles and tracking shots create a fascinating experience. Roger Ebert states that, “The Aviator celebrates Scorsese’s zest for finding excitement in a period setting, recreating the kind of glamour he heard about when he was growing up.” In the beginning of the film out on an airfield the scene starts out with a medium shot of a man standing with a film slate board in front of a plane. The slate shows scene 147 B, take 5, Roll No 79. Then the scene cuts to the same slate only as a close up, then cuts to a long take of high angle tracking shot alongside a plane with a pilot getting into it, which ends as a medium shot of the back of Hughes’ head talking to one of his man in front of the plane. This shot combines to tell the obsession that Hughes has with planes and film making right from the beginning. In the same take, Hughes turns around and starts walking and talking, followed by two of his men, when Noah Dietrich comes up alongside him and introduces himself. The scene cuts to a long shot of Dietrich and Hughes, which becomes in the same take a medium tracking shot of the two men walking through the parked planes. The scene cuts to a low angle close up shot of Howard hiring Dietrich and telling him that his first task it to make sure that everybody calls him Mister Hughes from now on. This low angle enhances the arrogance and superiority of Hughes. Then the scene cuts to a high angle shot of Hughes and Dietrich climbing up the stairs to his director’s tower. In a close up shot in which Hughes explains that he has the largest private air force in the world, the scene cuts to a high angle shot of the airfield with the parked planes, then back to a close up of Hughes and zooms out to medium shot of him and Dietrich and another man in the background. Hughes is standing in front of a megaphone and the next shot is inside the megaphone only showing the small end of it with Hughes’ mouth shouting into it. Then the camera zooms out, shows Hughes standing behind the megaphone, and stops with a long shot of the tower. This techniques emphasizes from the beginning that Howard is very driven and obsessed with success. Scorsese didn’t use the scene to communicate dislike for the arrogance of Howard, but rather he uses it to create empathy for Howard in the audience. He wants to establish the fact that Howard does everything he can to be in charge, and the megaphone is a symbol of this longing.

In many ways Martin Scorsese style is similar to Stanley Kubrick’s style. Scorsese himself, in discussing Kubrick, asserts that “[h]is audacity is to insist on slowness in order to recreate the pace of life, and to ritualize behavior of the time. A great example is the seduction scene, which he stretches until it settles into a sort of trance, what always struck me is the ballet of emotions of the film, watch the tension between the camera’s movements and the characters body language orchestrated by the music in this scene” (Meir). The combination of different angles and the harmony of music and visual aspects are very strong parts of both of these men’s films. For example, Kubrick’s film Barry Lyndon (1975) and Scorsese’s film The Age of Innocence (1993) are both costume dramas that have stunning visual aspects. Both perfectly recreate the time period and reflect the sensibility of their directors which results in films that look like artistic reenactments. Kubrick and Scorsese are each very careful with the composition of their framing, both making sure that every shot has a purpose and becomes an important part of the narrative. Furthermore Kubrick and Scorsese each have a very emotional attachment to their films and make sure that the film is created after their vision and ideas. This shows the true auteurism of both directors.

Martin Scorsese is a devoted film historian; it is obvious that he has studied the films of Alfred Hitchcock in depth. One of the best examples to see similarities between the auteurisms of Hitchcock and Scorsese is the film Shutter Island (2010). One can see that Scorsese really worked on this in the spirit of Hitchcock; with Shutter Island he created a tribute to the master of suspense. The atmosphere and insane murderous plot with a surprising ending has every influence of a Hitchcock picture. Shutter Island has a certain noir influence and is reminiscent of the style of Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) which is one of Scorsese’s favorite films. (Millar). This doesn’t mean to say that Scorsese copied Hitchcock; rather he took essential Hitchcockian elements and recreated them according to his own style. Furthermore in many of his films, like Hitchcock, Scorsese has a cameo, sometimes as a voice or sometimes as an actor. For example in Bringing Out The Dead (1999), he was the voice of the dispatcher. In Hugo, he played a photographer. Scorsese belongs in one sentence with Kubrick and Hitchcock because
he learned from these masters and proceeded to develop the unique style which makes him also such an important auteur filmmaker.

Martin Scorsese is one of the most influential filmmakers on others, a paragon for many directors. For example, Paul Thomas Anderson films have a heavy influence from the Scorsese style, not just copying him but learning from him, integrating ideas in his own technique. For example, the film There will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) has low camera angles, slow motion, surreal elements and a theme strongly reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s style. He not only influences other filmmakers with his work but also as a teacher and film historian. With the DVD series A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies (1995) he shows the viewer the films he himself was influenced by. He also taught at the New York University Film School and guest lectured in different schools, impacting the next generation of visual storytellers.

Martin Scorsese has a great influence in the film world and is celebrated by many filmmakers: John Woo dedicated his film The Killer (1989) to Scorsese (IMdB, Trivia) because he was so very impressed by Scorsese’s style.

Martin Scorsese is one of the best filmmakers to use the film medium to tell a story; his films hold significance not only for the viewing audience but also for those who wish to learn and study about the complex world of film. His style and narratives make him a true auteur, worthy of deliberation. One can only imagine what next work he will turn his creative attentions to. Whatever it is, the world will be the better for it.

Works Cited

“101 Great Filmmaker Quotes.” FilmmakerIQ.com. FilmmakerIQ.com, 2010. Web. 28
Jul 2012.
Ebert, Roger . Scorsese by Ebert. Kindle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. eBook.
“Martin Scorsese Trivia.” IMDb. IMDb.com, 2011. Web. 29 Jul 2012.
Meir, Chris. “Scorsese and Kubrick.” The Kubrick Corner. The Kubrick Corner, 2012.
Web. July 27, 2012.
Millar, John. “Exclusive: Legendary director Martin Scorsese on his inspiration for new film.” Daily Record.com.uk. Sunday Mail, 2010. Web. 29 Jul 2012.

Nyce, Ben. Scorsese Up Close: A Study of the Films. 1. Maryland : Scarecrow Press Inc, 2004. Print.