Career-Spanning Exhibit At The Museum Of The Moving Image Lets You Dive Deep Into Martin Scorsese's World [Review]

The Museum of the Moving Image is hosting a comprehensive exhibit completely dedicated to the life and work of Martin Scorsese that will run from December 11th to April 23, 2017. The impressive display was birthed in Berlin by curators Kristina Jaspers and Nils Warnecke in 2013 where it debuted at the Deutsche Kinemathek Museum für Film und Fernsehen. Simply titled, “Martin Scorsese,” the exhibit features hundreds of personal items from his life, films, and private collection. With such a remarkable body of work, it’s a wonder something of this scale hasn’t been done before, but this show is the first of its kind and it’s finally on display in its rightful home, New York – specifically Queens, where Scorsese was born and lived until he was eight years old.

READ MORE: Martin Scorsese’s Gangster Classic Has Never Looked Better In Re-Release Trailer For ‘Goodfellas’

Arranged thematically, the exhibit is divided into categories that reflect recurring concepts rooted in Scorsese’s work and psyche. These major themes are carefully constructed to give us insight into the card catalog mind of the Director. Each section, Family, Brothers, Men and Women, Cinephile, Lonely Heroes to name a few, is presented by MOMI Exhibition designer Wendell Walker in the familiar Caravaggio chiaroscuro style that is pervasive in his work. These objects are the light in the dark of the halls.

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Born in 1942, Scorsese and his tight knit family lived in Corona for those first few years of his life, before they moved to Little Italy. Deciding against entering the priesthood, Scorsese graduated NYU with a Master’s in film in 1966, but had already started making short films in the early ’60s. Now with a little over fifty years of filmmaking under his belt, Scorsese’s films are ingrained in our culture as the highest level of American cinema, even if some weren’t critically or even commercially acclaimed at the time of their release, (such as “New York, New York” or “The King of Comedy” ).

The Italian American experience is documented beautifully and perhaps even religiously with intimate images of his parents Catherine and Charles, their marriage and even their modest dining room table and chairs taken from the documentary he made about them, “Italianamerican.”

The longtime collaboration with editor Thelma Schoonmaker is also a focal point, and can be found filed under Editing, (of course). Meeting in film school, Schoonmaker edited 1967’s “Who’s That Knocking at My Door,” and the two worked together again on 1980’s “Raging Bull,” which won her the first of three Oscars, and she has edited all of his features ever since. Scorsese’s hand drawn storyboards are prominent throughout where the dissection of a scene, shot by shot, captivates as the bones to the body of his process. Having completed his first story board at age 11, here we are given storyboards for many of his films, but the detailed storyboard from “Raging Bull,” which he drew in pencil and ink, fascinates with its perfect alignment to the finished film.

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Although this exhibit is a loving homage to a master, like many of his films it can be unsettling. The second level of the museum is dedicated to four screens, showing an array of disturbing images and the layers of sound that accompany them, from “The Last Temptation of Christ,” “Taxi Driver,” “Bringing out the Dead” and ending with a montage of violence. Brutal death and guns are things Scorsese has never shied away from and as extracted here, it truly disturbs considering our current political climate, and how each image of blood and guts on the floor or the walls, has inspired many a cheap imitation.

Approaching the complex relationships of his characters, the Men and Women portion of the exhibit examines the uneasiness between the sexes in films like “The Age of Innocence,” “Casino” and “The Departed.” Music and New York round out the remaining sections and are both extremely fascinating and integral to the exhibit as weapons in Scorsese arsenal of unconventional filmmaking. Unlike Berlin, or its previous temporary homes, this exhibit includes a section showcasing detailed pieces from his new film, “Silence” and its Tomogi Village setting.

To complement the exhibition, the Museum will screen the director’s work and the series will be divided into two parts. The first will showcase the 21st century work of the filmmaker including “Gangs of New York,” “The Wolf of Wall Street, “and “The Aviator” and later, there will be a complete retrospective of his early oeuvre and will also feature films that have influenced his vision and career.

The Playlist could have spent the entire day inside the museum, examining each item, revisiting each film, and reliving their impact. This comprehensive exhibit and retrospective of Martin Scorsese in its aggregate is a marvel. At MOMI for the next few months, it is clearly Marty’s world and we are all just living in it.

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