The year got off to a rough start for Martin Scorsese. His long anticipated HBO show “Vinyl,” which should have been right in his wheelhouse and included an incredible cast, turned out to be a bit airless and was canceled last week. Looking past the let down of the show (it clocked in at number one on our most anticipated new TV shows of the year list…), the cancellation was yet another casualty of the shifting small screen landscape that, in the near future might not be so dominated by the likes of HBO.
But, all that’s for another time. And Scorsese has another, likely more interesting, project coming down the pipeline: “Silence.” The film, which, like “Vinyl,” sports a fantastic cast (Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson to name a few), is one the director has been aching to get made for ages — Scorsese and his cast and crew all reportedly worked for scale to get it financed. This sort of passion and dedication, which has fueled Scorsese’s storied career, is one of the many reasons he is one of our absolute favorites, and an unparalleled living legend of cinema.
Another and potentially more obvious reason is his craft. Scorsese has a tool shed of tricks and trademarks, one such being his incredible, visually inventive close-ups. To highlight the artistry at work, Jorge Luengo Ruiz has edited together an impressive super-cut of Scorsese’s plethora of close-ups. The 6-minute video, “Martin Scorsese’s Close-Ups” is an exacting look at an exacting shot that the director has utilized well in too many movies to count. Fans will recognize memorable shots from “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull” all the way to “The Wolf Of Wall Street.”
It’s compelling and visually gratifying stuff. Check out ‘Scorsese’s Close-Ups’ above and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below.