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Scorsese by Ebert

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This book includes Ebert's reviews of Scorsese's films, more recent reconsiderations of some of the movies, and transcripts of interviews with Scorsese. All of this material is interesting, thoughtful and thought-provoking, and well written. However, the book has been padded with "introduction" chapters that tell you exactly what you'll find in the reviews and reconsiderations, sometimes using almost exactly the same words. This is unfortunate because in effect you will have already read what follows before you read it.

If you haven't seen all of Scorsese's movies, it might lead you to seek out the ones you haven't seen. If you have, it might lead you to follow in Ebert's footsteps and "reconsider" them by watching some of them again.

As much as Roger Ebert clearly loves the films of Scorsese, he is able to remain objective in his criticism. His writing is easy to read, like talking to a friend. He is able to highlight a theme through all of the films of Scorsese, as a true admirer of movies and their makers. For any fans of Roger Ebert and/or Martin Scorses, this book is wonderful.

Scorsese's foreword of Ebert about this book, is one of admiration and respect, from a highly praised film director to an equally highly regarded film critic of all time, for chronicling his works in such a way as to make you understand how Scorsese works and how his films have such charisma to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
(Amazingly, both have known each other since 1967).

Ebert chronicles Scorsese's films with the precision that even the film director remarks as being highly commendable; each film is summarised with the critic's eye for details and like Scorsese himself, the real life portrayals, situations and characters make the films what they are:
a remarkable `story' of characters and dramas which Ebert finds intriguing in the films.

What does come across well, is Ebert's fascination with Scorsese's films, from the moment his first feature, `Who's That Knocking at My Door', was canned, which already shows that instinctive nature for placing the camera in such a way as to get the shot he needed, for that particular scene.

Here you can sense the rapturous applause for such an incredible film director, with all the trimmings delicately applied.

Hard work and dedication is what we get from the reviews; of the toil, trials and tribulations of even the cameraman, down to their sprained knees and the sound man with ear infections - the nitty gritty of 3 days of sheer hard work. What emerges from Woodstock is 7 hours of genius.

The films reviewed tells of the development of ideas and themes such as that of anarchy, violence and sex as in Boxcar Bertha; the survival of a sub culture of boredom, mediocrity and death, sometimes seen as imminent, in Mean Street; the parody of fame through the eyes of Alice Hyatt in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and broaches contemporary thoughts of liberalism in women who had dreams as a child and later enacted them, with, at times, humourous consequences.

The intensity of vision which Ebert notes of Scorsese, on first meeting him, can perhaps be seen in the darkly melodramatic feature,Taxi Driver, which almost sends the viewers cowering beneath the seats for shelter, as the main character's fierce reprisals for the haunting episode of experiencing rejection, unfolds in stark reality. Raging Bull, follows closely with its brutal showing of men's physical violence in the essence of men's incomprehensibility of women's roles in life: 'virgin or whore' (p65).

After Hours and The King of Comedy are two of Scorsese's comedy films which Ebert reviews with reservations at times and points out how the characters convey a `kafkaesque' quality in the first and `emotional desert' in the second.

The Color of Money, which continues the story of `Fast Eddie' Felson in Robert Rossen's The Hustler, is seen by Ebert as Scorsese's mainstream work and which depicts the story through its early scenes, especially, convincingly well except for the `timeworn genres....of standard Hollywood situations' (p91), whereas films like Raging Bull shows how Scorsese can turn a `steak-cooking episode....into a sociological microscope' p226). Other notable films being, of the legendary, Bob Dylan, in No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and Shine a Light, which makes you want to see these and other films from a different perspective and with an insight into Scorsese's way of working.

Interestingly, the controversial, The Last Temptation of Christ, is seen as portraying Christ as a real human being and not some postcard image we see of an `emasculated' image, which pampers to the public's view of Christ, the Divine Being, set apart from us and Ebert finds this film more challenging than others on this matter. Ebert believes though the film with all its spiritual splendour, Kundun, where the 14th Dalai Lama is seen as an icon, that we see a series of breathtaking `visuals' described as `pure cinema'.

In Cape Fear, Goodfellas and The Aviator, The Color of Money and The Departed, which we usually associate most with Scorsese, they come across on screen, effortlessly, as only Scorsese can do and as Ebert says, in the way that only `a master in command of his craft' (p 236) can do but not so evident in, Gangs of New York.

Now having read Ebert's book on Scorsese, I see films like Goodfellas, differently and see how the camara is used to focus on thematic changes in the characters and scenes, the moral issues behind some actions and the cultural background of many of the films. Truly astounding.

Scorsese by Ebert

There's not a lot of new writing in this book, which is mostly a
collection of reviews that film critic Roger Ebert has done of movies
directed by Martin Scorsese. But that doesn't mean it's not worth
reading. Ebert is an exceptional writer, even if I don't always agree
with his taste in movies. Reading Ebert's reviews is like listening
to a friend and fellow movie fan discuss what's good and what's not.
He can, like most critics, get too involved in the art of filmmaking
or the technique of shooting a movie, rather than just telling you
whether it's worth seeing or not. But, even in those cases, the
quality of the writing shines through. Ebert is wrong when he says
that "The KIng of Comedy" is not a good film, while later on praising
"The Departed," an overlong movie about corruption in the Boston
Police Department. But part of the enjoyment -- especially if you
have seen the films -- is hearing both Ebert and Scorsese talk about
them and about their relative merits. I give it a definite thumbs up.

As a lifelong film buff, and an Italian-American, I am drawn to both these talented individuals, appreciate the works of both, and deeply enjoy the insights into Martin Scorsese provided by Roger Ebert. A fascinating educational experience that encourages me to re-read, re-watch, re-visit these masterpieces. Learning something new, each time!

If you like Scorsese's films, you will most likely enjoy this book. It contains all of Ebert's reviews of his films, and several in-depth interviews with Scorsese. Very enjoyable for Scorsese fans.

This book is a must for any serious movie goer. It gives perspective to his movies and a background that is truly interesting. Read it in two days, it was so interesting.

This book is filled with insightful and well thought out comments by film critic Roger Ebert, but the real thrills are the revelations revealed to him, and in turn revealed to us, by Mr. Scorsese. I won't give away the things that I found exciting, but it is obvious that Mr. Scorsese trusts and respects Mr. Ebert enough to share a great deal. As an author, it seems as though Mr. Ebert puts himself on the same plateau of Mr. Scorsese ("Scorsese by Ebert"?? Who is he, Cher?). At the end of the day, Mr. Scorsese changed the world of cinema and Mr. Ebert reported on it. This book is still an important read for fans of master class cinema.

This book is absolutely awesome. Ebert does extremely well to share with us his perception and opinion of Martin Scorsese and his masterful works. A must read for any film fan!! There is nothing like reading a book by the worlds foremost film critic about the worlds greatest director.

"Scorsese by Ebert" may seem the best of both worlds: the finest American filmmaker approached by the finest American film criticist. And it would have been so, if the book wasn't just a collection of reviews, interviews and some second-thought appreciations of some of his movies. It's evident, from the review of Scorsese's first work in 1967, that Ebert was touched by Scorsese as a twin soul - in cinema terms, at least. However, there's much to say about the director than a review can hold, and unfortunately a collection of reviews will not provide the insight and, most important, the actual situation under which each movie was made. Ebert is a great film criticist and a lot of his knowledge and thoughts about Scorsese and his cinema will not be available to us in this book, unfortunately. Nevertheless, as a detailed guide to the career of Scorsese, it will be very interesting for those who are first approaching the work of the director.