A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

"I can't really be objective here"

A bit dissapointing

The joy of film through the eyes of Scorsese - excellent

A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Brian De Palma , Gregory Peck , John Cassavetes , Francis Ford Coppola , and André De Toth
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305941122
Release Date: 2000-09-12

Amazon.co.uk Review

Scorsese's invigorating history of American movies avoids the straitjacket of chronology. Although he makes dutiful nods in the direction of Edwin S. Porter, D.W. Griffith and Orson Welles, he is equally interested in figures working at the margins, film-makers such as Andre De Toth, Ida Lupino, Sam Fuller and Edgar Ulmer, "who circumvented the system to get their vision onto the screen". He describes them as "illusionists", "smugglers", con artists who managed to hoodwink the money men into allowing them to make the films they wanted. Some worked in B-movies ("less money, more freedom") others (like Scorsese himself) struck their own Faustian bargains with the studios, making "one movie for them, one for yourself"

His heroes are the outsiders, the film-makers who chafe against the assurances of the American dream. He offers a vivid, guilty vignette of himself as a four-year-old child, sitting in a darkened auditorium watching in amazement as Gregory Peck overpowers Jennifer Jones in Duel in the Sun, one of the first films his mother took him to. "The savage intensity of the music, the burning sun, the overt sexuality ... it seems that the two could only consummate their passion by killing each other". There's a certain irony in Scorsese, who once seriously considered becoming a priest, succumbing to a David O. Selznick Technicolor extravaganza which had already been condemned by the church.

While often sounding like a serious-minded apprentice who watches old movies to pick up tips which will help him in his own work ("study the old masters, enrich your palette, expand the canvas-there's always so much more to learn") he never overlooks the illicit pleasure that cinema can bring. "I don't really see a conflict between the church and the movies, the sacred and the profane". --Geoffrey Macnab

Customer Reviews:

"I can't really be objective here".......2007-10-11

"A personal journey with Martin Scorsese through American movies" (1995) is the kind of documentary I love, one that entertains but also manages to teach me something new at the same time.

Scorsese, a great director, shows that he is also a good teacher, telling the spectator about American movies that made an impression on him when he was growing up. Martin Scorsese talks about classic American movies, but also about the directors that made them. He doesnt pretend to be objective, pointing out that "I can only talk about what has moved me or intrigued me". That is probably the reason why Scorsese talks not only about classics like "Stagecoach", but also about little known movies like "Cat people", highlighting the reason why each one is special.

I can sincerely say that the only fault that I can find with this dvd is the fact that it doesnt include movies made after 1969, as I would love to know what Scorsese thinks about many of them. Highly recommended...

Belen Alcat

A bit dissapointing.......2007-09-24

Although I'm a huge fan of Scorsese and his work I didn't really enjoy this particular piece.For it seemed not informative enough too long and sometimes boring, though still enjoyable.
3/5

The joy of film through the eyes of Scorsese - excellent.......2001-11-14

An excellent and totally absorbing collection of extracts from, and thoughts about, the movies that influenced one of America's finest film makers. His passion and excitement about some of the best known, and other not so well known, American films and their makers is infectious. Although it claims to be an idiosyncratic selection, his knowledge is so broad there are few notable omissions. He focuses on the major American genres of westerns, musicals and gangster films and the films among them that most affected him as well as the great landmarks from 'Birth of a Nation' through 'Citizen Kane' to '2001 - A Space Odyssey'. For a thoughtful and revealing introduction to the history of American cinema you really can't go wrong here.

Customer Reviews:

BLOW YOUR BIG TOP.......2004-10-20

This DVD is in our local library and over the past 8 months we must have had it out almost on permanent loan. Imagine the distress of my 3 year old when he found that "some other little boy" had taken the Steady Eddie DVD out!

Two brilliant stories about the circus and 3 minis. There is also a short film of "Norman" and his actual Steady Eddie Truck. The only downside is that I can't get the song out of my head. "Clap your hands" ... once you see it you will understand why.

Go ahead and enjoy.

Steady Eddie Volume 5.......2004-08-10

A must have for you little one, my three year old son is glued to it, he can't get enough. Well written with brilliant characters.

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