Awarded for his entire body of work at the last Berlin Festival, Martin Scorsese spoke about one of his collaborations with Robert De Niro. A film which was a turning point for the illustrious filmmaker.
When Martin Scorsese speaks, we listen. Awarded at the last Berlin Film Festival for his entire body of work, the legendary American filmmaker revealed to journalists which of his films had acted as a trigger for the rest of his career.
The film that made Marty feel “free”
The work that first allowed Martin Scorsese to feel “free”, and therefore to which moviegoers owe a lot, is one of his collaborations with Robert De Niro. But it’s probably not the one that would immediately come to mind, since the filmmaker, whose two favorite films of 2023 are surprising, cites… La Valse des pantins!
“After The Waltz of the PuppetsI didn’t know anything anymore.”declared Martin Scorsese during the 2024 Berlinale, comments reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “I had put everything into Raging Bullthen in Taxi Driver, New York, New York and finally The Waltz of the Puppets.”
“I had to start from scratch.”
“When I say that I no longer knew anything, it is in the sense that I then felt free to rethink everything”continues the New York filmmaker. “I had to start from scratch. And luckily, I feel like that’s happened a few times in my life.”
Released in theaters in 1983, the comedy-drama The Waltz of the Puppets tells the story of Rupert Pupkin, a little-known comedian who, to gain recognition, kidnaps the presenter of a television show (Jerry Lewis) and only agrees to release him on the condition of participating in his show. A film that Martin Scorsese therefore considers as the end of a cycle, a work which allowed him to bounce back in order to pursue a career which will prove to be quite simply exceptional.
False Connection: the gaffes and errors of Scorsese & De Niro