The 2016 Sydney Film Festival is already underway and this year the ‘Essential Scorsese’ program offers film fans to see a spectacular package of classic Martin Scorsese movies, all in one great location and presented by film critic legend David Stratton. To celebrate this amazing opportunity to see 10 of Scorsese’s greatest ArtzBuzz has compiled a bit of trivia about each of the films presented this year between the 11th and 19th of June, at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Mean Streets (1973)
“Scorsese’s breakthrough feature stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro in an explosive drama about friendship and betrayal set in Manhattan’s Little Italy.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- Almost half of the film’s budget was spent on attaining the rights to use the songs used throughout the movie, and many of these songs were selected by Scorsese from his own record collection.
- Although it is known for it’s classic New York setting, almost none of the film was shot there. Throughout the film, many of the most well-known scenes are shot in notable Los Angeles locations.
- Robert Di Niro was cast in the film before they even decided what role he would play, with one of four options potentially being portrayed by De Niro. Originally De Niro had wanted to play the character of Charlie but was later convinced to take on the role of Johnny Boy.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
“In her Oscar-winning performance, Ellen Burstyn plays a young widow eager to re-capture her childhood. Harvey Keitel, Kris Kristofferson and Jodie Foster co-star in this stylish melodrama.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- The classic line from actress Ellen Burstyn, “I don’t sing with my ass”, was entirely improvised on the set, Scorsese opting to leave it in without asking for any further takes.
- The opening sequence was designed to be an homage to The Wizard of Oz, with many parallels shots and motifs hidden throughout.
- Both Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine were originally offered lead roles but both turn them down, MacLaine noting years later she regretted her decision greatly.
Taxi Driver (1976)
“Winner of Cannes Palme d’Or, this is one of the most iconic films of the ’70s, thanks to the towering performance of Robert De Niro as a social misfit obsessed with porn and violence.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- Robert De Niro worked fifteen hour days for a month driving cabs as preparation for this role
- The writer Paul Schrader wrote the script in only 10 days, and only drafted it twice. While writing for 10 days straight he kept a loaded gun on his desk to keep him motivated and inspired.
- The lead role of Travis was originally written for Jeff Bridges to play, before De Niro signed on for the role.
New York, New York (1977)
“Robert De Niro plays a saxophonist and Liza Minnelli a singer in Scorsese’s lavish recreation of fifties’ Big Band musicals. The knockout opening scene depicts the day World War II ended.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- In order to present a more authentic character, Robert De Niro learned to play the saxophone for this film.
- To this day, there are still rumours suggesting Liza Minnelli became romantically involved with Robert De Niro,and later Scorsese himself, during the filming.
- The now famous original song from the film “Theme from New York, New York” was originally written and then scrapped at the request of Robert De Niro. The music department wrote a new version of the song at De Niro’s request, which has since become one of the most famous original soundtrack pieces of all time.
Raging Bull (1980)
“Robert De Niro, in his Oscar-winning role, plays the deeply conflicted middleweight boxer Jake La Motta in this superlative biopic. One of Scorsese’s finest achievements.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- To show up better on black-and-white film, chocolate was used in place of stage blood.
- Scorsese has claimed it took only two weeks to write the script on the small Caribbean island of St Martin.
- Compared to most boxing movies at the time, all the fight scenes were shot inside the ring, rather than on the other side of the ropes. Nowadays this kind of immersive cinematography is common in boxing and fight scenes.
The King of Comedy (1982)
“Scorsese satirises the obsessive characters of his earlier films in this dark comedy in which De Niro plays the ultimate superfan and comic Jerry Lewis plays a straight role as a TV personality.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- Robert De Niro and Diahnne Abbott were married in real-life at the time of shooting the film.
- Becuase of the emotionally grueling nature of making the film Scorcese later said he “probably should not have made the film”, and claimed it was likely the reason himself and De Niro did not work together again for seven years following the film’s completion.
- Despite being considered a classic it was called the flop of the year at the end of the year in 1983 by Entertainment Tonight.
Goodfellas (1990)
“The Citizen Kane of gangster movies, and one of Scorsese’s finest, most disturbing films, with iconic performances from Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as jittery mobsters.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- The word F*** is used 321 times, which works out to be about 2 every minute on average throughout the film, this was the most profanity in film history at the time of release. The script only called for the use of the F word 70 times, but this was added many more times as dialogue was improvised during shooting.
- The Steadicam shot through the kitchen on the nightclub has become one of the most iconic in film history, but was shot out of nessecity as Scorsese was not given permission to go through the front entrance when filming.
- Every costume that Robert De Niro’s character wore through the film had a unique watch and a pinkie ring to go with it.
The Age of Innocence (1993)
“A superlative adaptation of Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the film is set in New York in the 1870s and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder (all three leads) were all the first choice actors for Scorsese, a rare achievement in Hollywood productions.
- In preperation for the role Daniel Day-Lewis checked into the Plaza Hotel under his character name “N. Archer” and proceeded to dress and act as him for two weeks straight.
- Martin Scorsese’s close friend gave him a copy of Edith Wharton’s book ‘The Age of Innocence’ in 1980, but it took Scorsese seven years before he got around to reading it, and another 6 before he released the film.
Casino (1995)
“In one of his most dazzling achievements, Scorsese explores the corruption at the heart of Las Vegas in the 1970s, with Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone in the leads.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- The costume budget of the film swelled to just over a million dollars, with De Niro’s character wearing 70 different costumes throughout the film, and Sharon Stone wearing 40. Both actors were allowed to keep their wardrobes at the conclusion of shooting.
- All the scenes that needed shooting on the casino floor were done between 1am and 4am at the Riviera, to avoid interrupting the peak business times. Despite this, the Riviera advertised the fact that Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, and Robert De Niro were filming in the Casino.
- In the interest of authenticity, Scorcese enlisted the help of many parolees and FBI agents from the era as consultants during the filming.
The Aviator (2004)
“Leonardo DiCaprio stars as pioneer aircraft designer and filmmaker Howard Hughes in this superb biopic, with Cate Blanchett in her Oscar-winning role as Katharine Hepburn.”
DID YOU KNOW?
- Scorsese claims that we personally paid for the $500,000 over budget expenses in order to shoot the film he envisioned to its fullest.
- As the film’s story progresses through the years Scorcese designed the shots to look like they were using colour film from the period. This was achieeved almost entirely through digital enhancements.
- During makeup each individual freckle was painstakingly painted onto Cate Blanchett’s face, arms and chest have her closely resemble Katharine Hepburn.
Be sure check out the full list of Scorcese films on offer for the Sydney Film Festival, and even pick up a great package deal if you want to catch all ten of them.
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