Glamourising  the  brutality of American dream

     Martin Scorsese once said, "I'm a lapsed Catholic. But I am Roman Catholic, there's no way out of it." In some films, he has explored the brutality of American dream, although some critics say that he could not eschew the cinematic techniques associated with glamour. Although not a critic of American dream, he was not comfortable with the stark realities that its underbelly carried. Born a Roman Catholic, he was influenced by the religious dogmas of sin, guilt and redemption – the main pins of Christian theology.His adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ set off raging controversy in religious circles.It was a deviation from the scathing violence of much of his erstwhile works. He handled spirituality as his  main   subject   in   that   work.Martin  Charles Scorsese  was  born  on   November

17, 1942. He is a noted American film maker, producer, screenwriter, thespian and film historian. He is widely considered as one of the major film makers in cinema history.

  He was awarded the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award taking into account the contributions made by him to cinema. He has won an Academy Award, a Palme d’Or, Best Director Award in Cannes Film Festival, Silver Lion, Grammy Award, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and DGA Awards.Film scholars have identified Italian-American cross culture, Roman Catholic themes of guilt and redemption, machismo, modern crime and gang conflict, as the underpinnings of Scorsese movies.

   His landmark films are Mean Streets (made in 1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi driver of 1976, Raging Bull (1980), King of Comedy of 1983 and Goodfellas (1990). In all these films, he collaborated with actor and his close pal, Robert De Niro.In 2006, Scorsese won the Academy Award for Best Director for the crime drama ‘The Departed’.Queens in New York happens to be Scorsese’s birth place. His father was Charles Scorsese and mother was Catherine Scorsese.They were devout Catholics and brought up their children in those edicts Scorsese had formal training in film making from New York University’s film school.In 1967,   Scorsese   made  his   first

feature length film.It was in black and white and first named, ‘I Call first and retitled later as ‘whose That Knocking at My Door’. Taxi Driver - made in 1976, established Scorsese as an accomplished director. The film also was the beginning of a number of collaborations between Scorsese and writer, Paul Schrader.During the 2000s, Scorsese produced several films for upcoming directors. He also produced many documentaries.In March of 2015, it was announced that Scorsese will direct a

Mike Tyson biopic.Politically, Scorsese is a strong Democratic Party supporter and extended support to the campaign for presidency of Barack Obama, in 2008.  

   Time Magazine listed Scorsese among its 100 Most Influential People in The World list, in 2007. He came second behind Alfred Hitchcock, in a poll held by Total Film Magazine for deciding the greatest director of all time. Steven Spielberg came behind him. This was done in August 2007.