When asked which famous people, living or dead, I would invite to a fantast dinner party, Martin Scorsese's name always comes up first.
For film buffs, Scorsese a fascinating interview.
A natural storyteller and teacher, few directors can match his breadth of knowledge about cinema nor his unbridled enthusiasm for the artform.
The New Yorker has such a huge reservoir of anecdotes from his experiences of the film industry, he's also incapable of giving a boring interview.
As if to underscore that point, filmmaker Rebecca Miller has released a five part documentary for Apple TV that tells the director's story with the help of Scorsese, his family and long time friends.
These include friends and collaborators such as Robert de Niro, Leonardo diCaprio, Thelma Schoonmaker, Robbie Robertson, Steven Spielberg, Brian de Palma, Jodie Foster, Isabella Rossellini, Spike Lee, Margot Robbie, Daniel Day Lewis, Sharon Stone, Paul Schrader, Cate Blanchett, Ari Aster, Mick Jagger as well as chums from the old neighbourhood, Salvatore Uricola, Frank Piccirillo, Dominick Ferraro and Jon Bivona.
The result is a compelling, five part warts and all documentary about a troubled genius whose obsession with cinema and addiction problems nearly drove him to an early grave.
It's a story of artistic passion, career highs and lows, a fevered imagination, raw talent, innovation, failed marriages, a brush with death and several shots at redemption.
Drawing heavily from interviews with the director himself, those who grew up around him and friends and colleagues, we follow him from a chronic asthmatic childhood on the 'Mean Streets' of Little Italy, making short films with pals to a brush with the priesthood and a compulsion to pursue a moviemaking career.
We learn of the influence of a local neighbourhood priest, Father Frank Principe in his formative years and also the old Italian cinema classics that used to air on local TV during noisy family gatherings.
Miller interviews contemporaries from a neighbourhood whose culture of violence and machismo shaped his best work.
We hear from friends and family how drug addiction nearly cost him his life until he found resonance in the story of Jake La Motta which Robert de Niro brought to him and which became 'Raging Bull'.
There are wild tales about the career highs of 'Italianamerican,' 'Mean Streets,' 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,' 'The Last Waltz,' 'Taxi Driver,' 'Raging Bull,' 'After Hours,' 'The Color of Money,' 'GoodFellas,' 'Cape Fear,' 'Casino,' 'The Age of Innocence, 'Hugo,' 'The Irishman,' 'Killers of The Flower Moon' and his biggest box success, 'The Wolf of Wall Street'.
Scorsese muses on a succession of Oscar snubs from 'Woodstock' right through to his Howard Hughes biopic 'The Aviator' before the Academy ended his 36 year drought in 2006 by giving Best Director and Best Picture statuettes for 'The Departed'.
There's the controversy over 'The Last Temptation of Christ' which sparked bitter protests from the Evangelical and Catholic right wing whose rhetoric flirted dangerously with anti-Semitism.
The docuseries celebrates gems that movie critics initially didn't get but which have grown in stature over the years like like 'The King of Comedy' and 'Bringing Out The Dead'.
There are fascinating insights into flawed, yet interesting works like 'New York, New York,' 'Kundun,' 'Gangs of New York,' 'Shutter Island' and 'Silence'.
Like all great artists, Scorsese is his harshest critic and there are some revealing anecdotes about his influences and work ethic.
The director recalls how he was mentored by the actor and indie filmmaker John Cassavetes who championed his work and delivered home truths, telling him the Roger Corman produced exploitation movie 'Boxcar Bertha' was a piece of garbage
Sharon Stone recalls how she had to fight hard to get Scorsese to devote the same attention to her during the making of 'Casino' as he was giving to long time collaborators Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci and when it did, boy, did it pay off.
Margot Robbie and Leonardo di Caprio recall the on set excesses and outrageous one upmanship that went on during the making of 'The Wolf of Wall Street'.
The director reveals the gruelling toll the psychological thriller 'Shutter Island' exacted on him and his cast, while Steven Spielberg and Brian de Palma marvel at the groundbreaking cinematic technique of 'GoodFellas' - most notably the Copacabana nightclub and the Henry Hill arrest sequences.
While he has reaped the benefits of working with method actors like de Niro, di Caprio, Day Lewis, Keitel and Pacino, Miller argues Scorsese may actually be a Method Director with footage showing him donning similar garb to his actors in films.
Interviews with his daughters and ex-wives prompt the question whether successful, driven artists can ever be selfless when it comes to their families.
Miller's docuseries makes a compelling case for Scorsese to be regarded as America's greatest filmmaker.
In fact, it's a measure of just how good 'Mr Scorsese' is that it will have you delving into his back catalogue to rewatch his lesser known or less celebrated works.
It will also make you realise how lucky we are to live in an era where we get the buzz of waiting for the next Scorsese project.
Here's hoping for many more.
('Mr Scorsese' was made available for streaming on Apple TV on October 17, 2025)
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