The Last Waltz
There are great gigs, and there was The Band’s The Last Waltz gig. Advertised as their last show back in 1976, the influential group were accompanied on-stage by a mammoth roster of musical colleagues, including (but certainly not limited to) Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond and Eric Clapton. Cleverly reserved in its directorial execution, the documentary allows the purity of The Band’s theatrics to guide you. The result is a heartily-celebrated, mildly-melancholic ode to the end of an era. The rawness of The Last Waltz once again showcases how amazing Scorsese is with his craft; he’s wise with how he uses his talents, and allows amazing music to speak for itself. The epitome of the term ‘legendary’.
Shine a Light
The Rolling Stones are so firmly entrenched in musical history as an indisputably iconic act that any attempt to capture their essence and unfathomably dense story requires one hell of a director. Scorsese nails it. You can tell he’s having a blast here, including himself amidst the chaotic preparation to shoot during their A Bigger Bang tour. He needs you to see the struggles of his passion pay off, and in the end, not an ounce of energy is sacrificed in the translation to screen. Intercut with humanising and humbling footage from the archives of their notoriously lengthy career, Shine a Light bounces of the walls with effortless vigour, successfully embodying the band’s devil-may-care personality.
New York, New York
What do you decide to make after forging Taxi Driver, one of the darkest and greatest psychological thrillers in American film history? A cheeky satire on goofy musicals with Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro, of course! Sadly misunderstood upon initial release, Scorsese’s homage-laden experiment in merging cinematic fantasy with harsh reality has experienced a resurgence in popularity since, partly thanks to that infuriatingly catchy title song. The cinematography is especially gorgeous, with long pans and strangely-beautiful constructed sets that radiate intentionally-false charm. It may not hit every mark it sets for itself, but it is consistently interesting; it’s hard to argue with both Minnelli’s powerhouse vocals and an impeccably-arranged brass section.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Scorsese is an avid archivist, founding The Film Foundation in 1990 in order to preserve and restore as many works as humanly possible. George Harrison: Living in the Material World is the quintessential example of this passion, fused with his love for an irreplaceable musician. Created with previously unseen footage from the personal archive of Olivia Harrison, this film draws from the permanence of The Beatles as a cultural aura and delivers another sliver to the fractal puzzle by putting a different focus to the face of the tunes we know. The most human of Scorsese’s musical works – which is saying a lot.
Michael Jackson – Bad
You know it. We all do. This music video – effectively acting as a short film – running a whopping 18 minutes at full length has penetrated the Western psyche and permanently altered the landscape of the music industry. There are parts that haven’t aged well – the synth soundtrack seems particularly cheesy now – but a barrage of clever camera techniques and expertly paced scenes ensure that there’s no way anyone could or should care. No one could’ve predicted that the lead-up to a dance number could carry so much tension. The friendly banter sours into accusation and the hiss of water pipes burst silence at all the right moments. Scorsese maintains a wonderfully uneasy atmosphere that creeps along so gradually that when it finally climaxes at the main attraction – the song itself – it damn explodes. Game-changingly cool.
By Jacob Colliver
