Martin Scorsese Explains Why He Wasn’t Mature Enough To Make ‘Godfather Part II’ When Coppola Offered It

When people think of classic Martin Scorsese films, many are reminded of “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” and even “The Departed.” The filmmaker has really become the iconic crime drama storyteller. So, you could definitely understand why film fans would be intrigued to see Scorsese’s take on the legendary “Godfather” franchise, but when the opportunity came for him to take a shot at it, he didn’t think he was right for it.

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Speaking to Deadline, Martin Scorsese went into detail about the situation surrounding “The Godfather Part II” and why he wasn’t the right choice to direct that film. Many people probably have seen interviews where Francis Ford Coppola talked about wanting Scorsese to direct the ‘Godfather’ sequel when it was in development. Coppola even talked to a young Scorsese about the idea. However, Paramount didn’t want that to happen, and Coppola ended up directing what might be his greatest film. And in the new interview, Scorsese explained why he wasn’t the right choice to direct the iconic film.

“Honestly, I don’t think I could have made a film on that level at that time in my life, and who I was at that time,” Scorsese said. “To make a film as elegant and masterful and as historically important as ‘Godfather II,’ I don’t think… Now, I would’ve made something interesting, but his maturity was already there. I still had this kind of edgy thing, the wild kid running around.”

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He continued, “I didn’t find myself that comfortable with depicting higher-level underworld figures. I was more street-level. There were higher-level guys in the street. I could do that. I did it in ‘Goodfellas’ particularly. That’s where I grew up. What I saw around me wasn’t guys in a boardroom or sitting around a big table talking. That took another artistic level that Francis had at that point. He didn’t come from that world, the world that I came from. The story of ‘Godfather II’ is more like Thomas Malory’s ‘Le Morte d’Arthur.’ It’s wonderful art.”

By the time “The Godfather Part II” was released in 1974, Scorsese was still very new in his career as a feature filmmaker, having only made “Who’s That Knocking at My Door,” “Boxcar Bertha,” and “Mean Streets.” Clearly, Coppola was onto something with wanting Scorsese to direct a ‘Godfather’ film, but this was well before the era of crime dramas that would define Scorsese’s career eventually. 

That said, who wouldn’t want to see what a young Scorsese would have done with “The Godfather Part II?”