What makes Martin Scorsese such a great director to you ?
What makes (or always has) director and occasional actor Martin Scorsese so unique and compelling to you, compared to other (living or now deceased) film directors whom you also admire ?

The way he tells a story, the way his soundtracks work in telling the story, the way he mixes documentary-style realism with the expressionistic. Some people stubbornly wish he would go back to his so-called "grittier" films. But they forget that films like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull sometimes had a very surreal feel. Mixed together, the two forms are very potent.

Also, the intangibles he gets from his timing(and some credit here should go to his editor too). Last night, for instance, I saw a bit of Goodfellas on t.v., and there's this moment where Liotta's character is swallowing this pill after having been sentenced...and then abruptly says 'Now take me to jail' to his driver. It's so perfect and effective.

Scorsese is THE BEST!
Hi BDuncan :) Okay. I could go on & on about why I LOVE Scorsese as a director & as a human being...but I'll keep it short. I especially LOVE the way each frame of every scene is shot. Nearly every frame in every Scorsese movie is compositionally perfect. I think he's just been looking through the lens of a camera for so long, he instinctlively knows what works & what looks good. And he knows exactly what to leave in & what to leave out. Once you start viewing Life through a camera lens, you begin to see the World in new ways you never did before. I also LOVE the music in Scorsese films... it all works to evoke that particular emotion I think he wants the audience to feel. Oh...detail. I LOVE Scoresese's attention to detail. I can watch his films dozens of times & almost always find 'something' I didn't see before...or have a thought I didn't think before. And...I think I mostly LOVE the freedom & comfort level he gives his actors. He's very attuned to the human spirit & I think Scorsese knows how to bring out the very best in every member of the cast. Scorsese's films literally stop time for me.

Because he's a great, fine, sensible, caring, obsessive observer of human lifes and ambiguities... I make it short BDuncan :D

BDuncan It`s very difficult for me to express and analyze in English, why i love Scorsese as director. But i can say this. That he is my 8th favorite filmmaker of all time. I think that says much more than a thousand words.

It's my first post here , I'm french, so it's not really easy for me to have news. Thanks to anyone who puts some on this board. There are hundreds of reasons for which I like Scorsese's movies so much but the most important one is that he knows the human spirit so well. Thanks to the mastery of his art he's able to reveal each sides of heart's ambiguity. He puts details , he uses music in order to suggest things more than to show. And suggestions make you understand and feel so much than demonstrations.

Scorsese’s Rocks
Why I like Scorsese? The subjects he chooses to explore on film The chances he takes The actors he chooses to bring his characters to life...really to life The bits and pieces of himself you can find in each of his projects His use of narration and music And beyond film, I love that he’s East Coast all the way I love his commitment to moviemaking and film preservation I love that right between Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, he filmed The Last Waltz with The Band , filmed The Blues between GONY and The Aviator, and right between The Aviator and The Departed he filmed No Direction Home with Bob Dylan...any man who loves his music that much deserves my complete admiration! So what about you BDuncan? How do you answer your own question?

The all round depth and color of his movies. His courage to try anything and his commitment to reality at all times.

Good topic.

His passion and curiosity. I'm not convinced he's the grea-*test*-('") living director really. But he certainly has put his stamp on cinema.

His use of color and light as well as his love of the human psyche. He's like a crazy painter mixed with a film historian. He's just bloody brilliant!