Martin Scorsese

[criterionmaster]

I saw The Last Waltz recently and it fucking blew me away, easily one of the best rock documentaries ever (a lot of people even call it the best). Looking at the final product, then thinking of how little time Scorsese had to set up the film, not to mention he was working on another film at the time, it is amazing. I loved that it looks like an actual film, and not a documentary.

Like Scorsese says a lot, it is the ending of a generation captured, the guests who are there, everything. I loved every performance, including the editing on the film, playing the last song first, it all worked so well. My favorite performance on there was probably the one where they yodel or whatever, that one is so much fun. Anyone seen this? If not, you really should, especially if you dig The Band, but even if you don’t, you should still find much to the film.

[captainofbeef]

Yes, that is the best concert film ever. The Band totally rips that show apart. They could have gone on for so much longer too. They still had it even at their last concert.

[criterionmaster]

captainofbeef said:

Yes, that is the best concert film ever. The Band totally rips that show apart. They could have gone on for so much longer too. They still had it even at their last concert.

Yeah, they totally did. I am listening to so much of The Band. In The Last Waltz the yodel at the end of "Up on Cripple Creek" is stunning, and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is fucking perfect. What is your favorite performance from the film and/or favorite The Band song in general?

....

Scorsese Reveals Controversial Film Set in Japan
Source: IMDB

Martin Scorsese has disclosed that he is planning to direct a movie, set in 17th-century Japan, that may have implications related to the war in Iraq. In an interview with the Associated Press at the Cannes film festival, Scorsese said that his film, Silence, presumably based on the novel of the same name by Shusaku Endo and William Johnston about Portuguese Christian missionaries who arrived in Japan in feudal times, has parallels to America's role in Iraq. The Oscar-winning director (The Departed) said that he hopes to shoot the film in Japan, at least partially, beginning next summer. "It raises a lot of questions about foreign cultures coming in and imposing their way of thinking on another culture they know nothing about," Scorsese told the A.P.

End of Article.

Thoughts on this?

[captainofbeef]

My favorite performance on that video is actually a Who cover, "Baby Don't You Do It." I love the way the Band plays it, makes it there own.

My favorite overall Band song is probably "The Weight." Conventional, but classic.

[criterionmaster]

Yeah, that is my favorite overall song of theirs as well.

Scorsese launches film preservation unit
By Tatiana Siegel
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
May 23, 2007

CANNES -- Martin Scorsese, flanked by a group of globe-spanning directors, announced Tuesday the launch of the World Cinema Foundation, devoted to the preservation and restoration of neglected films.

Among the first films to be rescued by the Scorsese-founded nonprofit is Ahmed El Maanouni's 1981 Moroccan music documentary "Trances." El Maanouni was among the panelists discussing the need to keep a global focus on cinematic restoration efforts.

Stephen Frears, Wong Kar Wai, Walter Salles, Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu also were among the all-male panel.

"In America, we know that 90% of all silent films are now gone ... and that's the situation in America," Scorsese said. "So, we thought over the past few years that it would be a wonderful thing to be able to pull together directors from all over the world to work on their countries raising financing (to preserve films)."

The recently minted best director Oscar winner said he first saw "Trances" in the early 1980s on TV in New York when he was working on "The King of Comedy." He said it provided him with a glimpse into another culture.

"We influence each other, and that creates a new kind of cinema, which is right here in Cannes," he added, motioning to the panel. "This can, hopefully, bring about some sort of political understanding."

Salles also underscored the importance of a pan-global effort to restoring films.

"Preserving films is preserving cultural identity," the "Motorcycle Diaries" helmer said. "What we're talking about is preserving diversity and plurality and the possibility to know each other better."

End of Article.