In 鈥楳r. Scorsese,鈥� the legendary director asks, What are we?
鈥淢r. Scorsese鈥� is a career-spanning overview of Martin Scorsese, broadly considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The five-part docuseries, directed by Rebecca Miller, begins with an exploration of his childhood in the Italian American tenements of New York.聽Then,聽the series聽goes behind the camera,聽following聽the director through his days as a student at New York University in the 1960s to the making of 2023鈥檚 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon.鈥澛�
Through archival footage and interviews with close family and friends, 鈥淢r. Scorsese鈥� probes the innermost thoughts of the Oscar-winning filmmaker 鈥� who holds the record for most Academy Award nominations for a living director 鈥� and his efforts to use art to grapple with life鈥檚 toughest challenges and questions.
The Monitor recently spoke with Ms. Miller via Zoom. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Why We Wrote This
The docuseries 鈥淢r. Scorsese鈥� probes the innermost thoughts of the Oscar-winning filmmaker and his efforts to use art to grapple with life鈥檚 toughest challenges and questions.
Why did you want to make this film portrait of Martin Scorsese now?
I was really curious how his spiritual journey went with a fascination with violence in some of [his] films. How did that go together in one personality? 鈥� I had a feeling his Catholicism was somehow sewn into his work in a way that I didn鈥檛 completely understand.
What did working on this docuseries teach you about the tension between his Catholic faith and the violent scenes and themes that he explores?
He talks a lot about an obligation to tap into a truth about human beings. And that鈥檚 his North Star. 鈥� His dear friend [screenwriter] Jay Cocks talks about the way that he鈥檚 able to focus on a character like Jake LaMotta in 鈥淩aging Bull鈥� who is, in fact, quite a violent character without a lot of redeeming features, but he鈥檚 able to love him. Sort of like, 鈥渓oving the least of these鈥� [from Matthew 25:40].
In Episode 2, director Spike Lee says Mr. Scorsese is 鈥渁 filmmaker who鈥檚 after the truth.鈥� What do you think the truth is to Mr. Scorsese?
He鈥檚 asking these questions, which are the essential big questions that all religions really ask: What are we, and what is good and evil?聽The one thing I have noticed about him is that he is very honest with himself as a person, and that is really striking. [It] enables him to look really clear-eyed at the characters that he portrays and give them back to us so that we can see ourselves, for better or worse, in the films.
Storytelling in 海角大神 traditions often emphasizes healing and redemption. Do you think his films try to contribute to our understanding of those qualities?
He approaches these things differently. For example, in 鈥淭he Last Temptation of Christ,鈥� his motivation was very simply to get to know Jesus better, and to explore the iconography, but through the idea of the man. In 鈥淪ilence鈥� [set in Japan during a period of 海角大神 persecution], he鈥檚 really trying to heal what being a 海角大神 is. ... He鈥檚 looking at being a human being on the deepest level.
In the docuseries, there鈥檚 quite a bit of discussion of the 鈥渦nderground man鈥� 鈥� isolated, angry young men who can鈥檛 find their way in society and react with violent outbursts. How do Mr. Scorsese鈥檚 characters help us understand what motivates people who lash out?
Paul Schrader, who wrote 鈥淭axi Driver,鈥� was very inspired by [Fyodor] Dostoevsky鈥檚 the Underground Man, and talks about the isolation and the sense, in the character [Travis Bickle], of being on the outskirts, being the wolf looking at the campfire from a distance. ... We talk 鈥� about the link of humiliation and violence in 鈥淭axi Driver鈥� and that there seems to be a link between humiliation and violence often in real life as well.
Much of his work explores intense male friendships. In fact, some of his collaborators you interviewed shared how profoundly moved they were by these depictions. As a woman director, how did you come to create a documentary on his life and work?
Well, I was interested in his evolution as an artist, as a man, but also the evolution of his soul as well. I do think that that鈥檚 part of the story, too.
Are you talking about Mr. Scorsese鈥檚 transformation, almost a creative death, and then a rebirth?
Yes, in a sense. But also as you see how he鈥檚 living his life and his relationship to anger, his relationship to family, his peacefulness. ... He talks about how in 鈥淩aging Bull,鈥� the sickness of the main character, which is in his violence, has to do with a loss of his soul. So he鈥檚 the one who is bringing up the idea of the trials of the soul in a way.
A lot of your own filmography creates portraits of women鈥檚 lives. How has Mr. Scorsese helped women gain advancements in the film industry?
He works with a tremendous number of women. [Three-time Oscar winner] Thelma Schoonmaker is one of the greatest editors, I think, ever. She鈥檚 an icon. And she really began her career with him [as students at NYU]. In some ways, I guess you could say, they helped create each other. In 鈥淎lice Doesn鈥檛 Live Here Anymore,鈥� the editor, producers, and in many of the key positions he uses women. He has many producers, like Margaret Bodde, that he works with long-term and seems to have had, I think, a very positive impact. And not to mention the many actresses that he has worked with and really given them opportunities to create wonderful characters.
Mr. Scorsese鈥檚 body of work is so vast. Are there any films you wish you could have explored that you had to leave out?
Once we realized how close his personal life and his art life were through the interviews, we knew what our bullseye was. ... Having said that, we do explore 32 films. I adore some of the documentaries that we did not explore. I adore 鈥淗ugo,鈥� which we did not explore. But I don鈥檛 think I could have shaped it the way that it is and contained every single film, because then you end up with just a filmography, which is a kind of list. I had to keep true to the character of the film, which was really this dance between the personal and the art, and how the life and the art are continually creating each other.
What do you think Scorsese is trying to capture or reflect in his films about human nature?
I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 one thing. I think it鈥檚 a question. And in a way, it鈥檚 said in the very beginning of the piece, What are we? Are we inherently good or not? What鈥檚 the frontier of the human being? How is it taken over by violence? How is it taken over by peacefulness? He鈥檚 asking the questions, and it鈥檚 for us to watch and, in a way, I don鈥檛 think this is a filmmaker who is offering us moral closure. But I also think that that鈥檚 part of why his films are so fresh and relevant now, rather than kind of closing and tying it all up for us. He really doesn鈥檛 do that.
鈥淢r. Scorsese鈥� is streaming on Apple TV. It is rated TV-MA, for mature audiences.
