Martin Scorsese Opens up About the Movie He Struggled To Finish

Martin Scorsese has spent decades making some of the most loved films in movie history. He is known for working closely with actors like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, and for caring deeply about movies as an art form.

Outside of directing, he also helps protect old films through his organization, The Film Foundation. But even with that passion, Scorsese has admitted that one movie nearly wore him down.

While promoting his film Silence, the director spoke openly with The Telegraph about how hard it was to make The Departed. The 2006 crime drama became a massive hit and finally earned him his first Oscar for Best Director. Still, the experience behind the scenes was far from rewarding.

Scorsese explained that the story itself was emotionally heavy. The film follows an undercover cop and a criminal informant, and almost no one survives by the end. He described the movie as moral ground zero and said it left him feeling empty once filming ended. According to him, there was nowhere to emotionally land after telling such a dark story.

Even after the movie’s success, he avoided celebrating it. He admitted that he barely did press for the film because he was exhausted and overwhelmed. He said the entire experience felt maddening, even though audiences and critics loved the final result.

The hardest part came after filming. Scorsese said the post-production process was especially rough. He liked the finished movie, but making it was another story. He described that phase as highly unpleasant and shared that the pressure and stress were so intense he felt it could have ruined his health. He added that at that point, the money did not matter to him at all.

Despite that burnout, Scorsese never truly stepped away. He is now preparing his next feature, What Happens at Night. The psychological thriller is based on a novel by Peter Cameron and will star Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. The story follows a couple who travel to a snowy European town to adopt a child, only to face something unsettling.

He is also staying busy with documentaries and television. One upcoming project, Shipwrecks of Sicily, focuses on underwater archaeology near the region where his family comes from.

Do you think his next film, leaning into psychological tension instead of crime, will be a refreshing change? Share your thoughts in the comments.