Scorsese: A Journey Through the American Psyche

by Paul A. Woods (Editor)

The fifth in the ultrascreen series of eclectic anthologies examines the influence of Scorsese’s upbringing in Little Italy on Mean Streets and Goodfellas; the urban madness of Taxi Driver and Bringing Out the Dead; the Catholic religiosity that permeates all the way from Mean Streets to the controversial interpretation of the Gospels in The Last Temptation of Christ.
It also describes the devotion to US cinema that led the director to tackle the all-American musical in New York, New York, make a sequel to a classic in The Color of Money, and remake a pulp crime movie in Cape Fear. In its surprising wealth of interviews, essays and reviews, Martin A Journey through the American Psyche examines a filmmaker whose works offer little pieces of history reflected through the viewfinder, be it in the era-of-assassination backdrop of Taxi Driver or the bloody nineteenth-century canvas of Gangs of New York.

Genres: Film

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2005

Reviews

[Mark Mullicane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for Scorsese fans. Though I have seen all the films written about (minus his very early shorts) I learned a lot about every film. The collection had me write down multiple other readings like Easy Riders - Raging Bulls that I really want to read. The films aspects about Scorsese covered in the collection are fascinating but don't hold a candle to the personal revelations I did not know. His drugs use and crazy parting in the 70s sounded bananas.

[Bryce Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My religion might be Catholicism, but my philosophy is Scorseseism.

I've got a Ratatouille style little floating Scorsese above my head right now, I often ask myself, "What Would Scorsese Do." I'm also completely fucking mental. But oh well.