[Scorsese] does not create narratives that are easily assimilable. The formal structure of his work is never completely at the service of the viewer or of the story it is creating. There is an unashamed self-consciousness in his work and a sense of kinetic energy that sometimes threatens to overtake both viewer and story, but always provides a commentary upon the viewer's experience and prevents him or her from easily slipping into a series of narrative events. (pp. 207-08)
Scorsese is interested in the psychological manifestations of individuals who are representative either of a class or of a certain ideological grouping; he is concerned with their relationships to each other or to an antagonistic environment. Scorsese's films involve antagonism and struggle, and constant movement, even if that movement is within a tightly circumscribed area that has no exit…. [There] is no triumph for his characters. With the notable exception of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore all of his characters lose to their isolation or their antagonism…. [His] work shows a degree of stylization which eschews, for the most part, the sixties conventions of realism, defined primarily by location shooting and natural acting styles. In New York, New York he moves indoors entirely, depending on studio sets to achieve an expressive artificiality. But even in the preceding films, where locations are used, there is a sense that the place inhabited by the characters is structured by their perceptions and by the way we see and understand their perceptions. (p. 208)
This is a free excerpt of 248 words. There are 4,152 words (approx.
14 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Scorsese, Martin 1942–: Critical Essay by Robert Phillip Kolker Access Pass.
