Martin Scorsese Shares the Stars Who Sparked His Love for Movies
Martin Scorsese became a big name in the 1970s, quickly earning a reputation as one of American cinema’s most daring voices. After the gritty streets of his 1973 film Mean Streets, he showed his range with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and then created the unforgettable urban nightmare of Taxi Driver in 1976.
Around the same time, he explored music with his 1978 documentary The Last Waltz, proving he could move easily between fiction and real life. Even as Scorsese influenced generations of directors like the Safdie brothers and Greta Gerwig, he often points back to the films and stars that shaped him as a young filmmaker.
He was fascinated by global cinema and admired directors like Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, and Alfred Hitchcock. Movies such as Ikiru and Tokyo Story taught him the power of story, but it was Roberto Rossellini’s 1946 war drama Paisan that he credits as the spark for his career.
Scorsese remembers watching the film on TV with his grandparents, saying, “Their reaction to the story and their homeland made it feel alive to me in a way nothing else had.” But it wasn’t just directors who inspired him.
Young Scorsese admired actors like Sabu in The Thief of Bagdad and Victor Mature in Kiss of Death. “They were larger than life on screen,” he once said, “and it taught me that performance could be a guide to understanding story and emotion.”
Even at 83, Scorsese shows no sign of slowing down. He’s currently filming What Happens at Night in Prague, a psychological thriller adapted from Peter Cameron’s novel. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Patricia Clarkson, and follows a couple who travel to a snowy European town to adopt a baby but get trapped in a huge, almost empty hotel with strange and unsettling people.
DiCaprio explained that Scorsese asked him to watch Hitchcock’s Vertigo to capture the right tension for the film. Scorsese is also completing a new documentary called Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson.
The film captures a tribute concert in Los Angeles with Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Mavis Staples. Robertson, a longtime friend of the director, passed away in 2023, and the project has become a heartfelt homage to their decades of collaboration.
While managing all this, Scorsese celebrated the 50th anniversary of Taxi Driver with archival tributes and discussions about its impact. He also continues to develop major projects, including a Frank Sinatra biopic that DiCaprio confirmed is still happening.
A film about the life of Jesus was recently delayed, but Scorsese’s current focus on the eerie and surreal tone of What Happens at Night shows he is exploring a bold, experimental phase in his late career.
Do you think Martin Scorsese’s return to psychological and unsettling stories is the perfect evolution for his career? Share your thoughts in the comments.
