Martin Scorsese's "favorite films" Doc.

Just watched the two-part four-hour documentary A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, which I gather was made in 1995... I think this is being re-broadcast now because they've since produced a Part 3.

Really interesting stuff, although the interviews with Martin get a little visually tedious, done as they are in extreme close-up on Martin's not-very-expressive face. But the insight he imparts is invaluable to anyone who wants to better understand the evolution of the American film director and the Uniquely American art form to which they aspire. At least as valuable as any four hours I spent in a film class during college.

It's particularly interesting to watch as Martin points out tricks and techniques that were truly revolutionary at the time, for without someone specifically pointing that out, it's often difficult to look back and know that something had never been done before. I was particularly struck by his analysis of a DW Griffith film that pioneered the art of cutting back-and-forth between action happening simultaneously in two different locations... Martin tells us that Griffith had to fight tooth and nail with the studio who were convinced that audiences would have no idea what the hell was going on. Think about how crucial that device has become in modern films... I kept thinking about that great sequence near the end of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS which plays with our expectations about intercut scenes to make us think the FBI is about to kick in the bad guy's door when in actuality, it's Clarice who has found the killer and the FBI are barking up the wrong tree. When Jame Gumb opened that door and Starling was standing there instead of the FBI agent with the flowers I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a second.


Also note Martin's analysis of the final scene in THE PUBLIC ENEMY which, despite being a climax that the audience has been waiting for, for quite some time, happens entirely off-stage such that we don't know what's happening until Cagney walks back into the view of the camera, which is situated outside in a static master shot. All we have to go on are gunshots and screams... brilliant way to build tension.