Director Focus: Martin Scorsese

Pre-requisites for enrolment

None.

Content of Course

1. Introduction & background: Little Italy, cinephile of American and World Cinema; film school & apprenticeship. Extracts from Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967) and Boxcar Bertha (1972) 

Low-budget vitality: Mean Streets (1973) ‘Movie brat” and the American New Wave.

2. Big-budget vitality: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

3. New York and Vietnam: Taxi Driver (1976)

4. New York then and then: New York, New York (1977), extracts, and The Age of Innocence (1993)

5. Self-destruction and Raging Bull (1980)

6. Morality matters: the gangster genre: Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995)

7. Movie stars, the mighty dollar and The Color of Money (1986)

8. Identity matters: The Departed (2006) and the Academy Awards

9. Money matters: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

10. Faith matters: Kundun (1997), Silence (2016). Considerations and Conclusions

Teaching method(s)

The course will take place over a period of ten weeks.

Each session will follow the same pattern:

• introduction which sets the film or extract within its context historically, socially and cinematically;

• screening of the film or extract;

• discussion.

Students will be provided with background reading, reviews, criticism, on a weekly basis. Reflection on the course will continue throughout with consideration of the learning outcomes and the general development of the course.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. discuss the development of Martin Scorsese as a creative force within the American film industry from 1967 to the present;

2. analyse chosen cinematic techniques in creating narratives and conveying meaning;

3. relate themes and concerns in Scorsese films to the times in which they were set and produced;

4. apply key concepts of the auteur theory to the cinema of Martin Scorsese.

Sources

Core Readings

Recommended:

• Thompson, D., Christie, I. 2003. Scorsese on Scorsese. London: Faber & Faber.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.