I my have said it before, but I’ll say it again for good measure – I believe Martin Scorsese to be the greatest living director. And even one of the greatest of all time. I haven’t exhausted his filmography, but thus far I’ve yet to see a film from him that I consider to be bad. But I digress. Today, Scorsese is seen as a prerequisite of any Leonardo DiCaprio film; but back in the day there was no star more associated with Mr. Scorsese than Robert DeNiro – and three of their collaborations have ended up on my list of 100 favourite films. GoodFellas, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are three great films. More often than not when we think of films worthy of being dissected bit by bit one of these come to mind. I had mentioned in my review of The Aviator that Martin Scorsese is probably the director who has most been touted to win the Oscar without ever succeeding. The critical reaction to Taxi Driver may not have been that overwhelming – it was one of the earlier works from Scorsese, but it was seen as a bonafide contender. And if you were to check the archives, there were quite a few betting on GoodFellas and Raging Bull. But what is it that I love about Scorsese…or more importantly, these three films?
There has been a recurring theme in the majority of Scorsese’s films – the disillusionment of the protagonist – Travis, Jake, Newland, Howard Hughes and even Jesus as far as Scorsese was concerned were perfect examples of broken men. It’s a theme that worked in each of these films, but also a theme that never felt heavy handed or unoriginal. GoodFellas emerges as my favourite of the three at #67. It’s ironic that that’s the one with the least bit of DeNiro. Ray Liotta has always been something of a guilty pleasure to me, and looking back I’ve always wondered why he didn’t make it as a ‘real’ actor. He was good looking and seemed to have more than a smidgen of talent, and what better way of being thrust into the limelight is a Scorsese film? GoodFellas is often regarded as the greatest thing that Scorsese has ever done, and though it’s all pretty subjective it is rather good. GoodFellas holds a certain importance because it saw Joe Pesci winning his Oscar. Despite not being one of my top ten favourites in the category, it’s one of the better wins of the 90s when Oscar made some glaring missteps. As with most Scorsese films the extensive cast plays an important part, and the cast of GoodFellas is pretty much spot on in terms of characterisation providing for a pretty good movie any way you look at it.
Raging Bull is a film I’m not sure I love as much as I appreciate or perhaps, respect. There is no denying that it’s something special and I must say that I consider it superior to Ordinary People – but that’s all blood under the bridge. Any one who doubts DeNiro’s prowess as an actor needs to see this film. Me, I’m no so big a fan of the guy – but when he does his thing he is outstanding. Still, I couldn’t help but be impressed with Joe Pesci’s supporting [Oscar nominated] role. It’s a performance that I like quite much, though I suppose I can’t fault Timothy Hutton either. You’ve probably heard the story of its production. After the unwittingly bad reception of New York/New York [a DeNiro classic no less] Scorsese sunk into depression and considered giving up filmmaking. Raging Bull was what pulled him back and although the initial reaction was not overwhelming it turned out to be nominated for a host of Academy Awards and today has become one of the greatest films of the eighties. Well as far as we’re concerned anyway. It’s my #90 in terms of favourites, but it’s still one hell of a film.
Taxi Driver is a bit different. Is there anyone redeeming in this film? Not likely, but it’s brilliant. For the record, I despise Rocky. I just wanted to get that out there. So, hell yes, I’m prejudiced against it. Taxi Driver is pretty straight up, with a twist of course and although I suppose DeNiro does more obviously good acting in Raging Bull, Taxi Driver depends completely on him. That pivotal scene where the audience realises that this guy they’ve been rooting just may not be so worthy of our admiration is chilling. DeNiro commitment to the role is awesome, and no one directs them like Marty can. I can only imagine what the response of the average moviegoer was to that experience. here they were probably thinking this was going to be your typical one man law machine type of flick, only to have that notion completely dashed. Taxi Driver is my #78 and it is one smart movie. You have to give it that.
So, there you have it. GoodFellas ranks at #67, Taxi Driver ranks at #76 and Raging Bull at #90. You may argue that they’re too low. You might be right. Who knows? But which of these greats is your favourite?
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