Martin Scorsese on New Hollywood Directors

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[00:00:00]GO, GO, LET'S GO. SOMEHOW, in the '70s, that decade, we were able to make pictures. People weren't talking about how much a picture was making. I mean, at a certain point, yes, how much money you would make or how much they would be able to risk. But, primarily, these were films that were like they were proud to make, in a way. They were proud to underwrite, I think, filmmakers with And I don't want to use it cuz it could become a dirty word, but vision. Mhm. A vision, meaning that they have a way of telling a story.

[00:00:24]Give them as much control. That built up to, of course, United Artists, which was an extraordinary place, making Heaven's Gate. Now, I made a picture there, Raging Bull, at the same time. In fact, Raging Bull opened 10 days before Heaven's Gate.

[00:00:38]And when that folded, we folded, too, with it. The picture was hardly re-released. The The establishment of the The UA executives left. It was a It was a complete mess. And everything was really over at that point. But, it wasn't easy to get the films made in the '70s, but there was an atmosphere of making special movies. But, when we hit the '80s, complete coup d'état.

[00:01:03]I guess it's a hard one to talk about because I can't really talk about my friends. That's like De Palma and Coppola and Spielberg and um That whole generation.

[00:01:11]>> That whole generation. I mean, there's all aspects. I mean, like Coppola's a great grand painter and then >> Yeah, but do you two see the mafia differently? Oh, yes. Well, totally. I You know. He's Well, how? All I know is like on the street corner.

[00:01:25]Street corner stuff. Nickels and dimes kind of thing, which I I really >> And he sees the He's in more Well, granted, for what we're talking about, The Godfather. We're talking about Mario Puzo's original novel. Then And then, the incredible Godfather II.

[00:01:39]It's one of the greatest films ever made. And so, Godfather I, also. But, I Number II just fills out it just like grand opera, you know? And that is like grand opera. It's something else. It's something else entirely. It's something I don't know.

[00:01:51]I'm [clears throat] not I'm not What's the word? Uh Literally, it's not I'm not a personal recognition of that. I never had any experience of that.

[00:02:01]You know? I may have seen it from from afar. But, the kind of experience I know is the poor guys in the corner selling the wrong lenses that they just they just stole. Yeah. You know? And that sort of thing. Um But, uh What else would you put up next to Godfather II in your judgment?

[00:02:15]Well, then then you go back to You see, Godfather Godfather I and Godfather II were split in the middle of the old Hollywood and the new Hollywood. Yeah. And the great time of the '70s. '70s was quite a time in America in in making films.

[00:02:27]But, you see, that's also some of the reasons why those pictures got made in the '70s. Taxi Driver. That night, when the Academy Award, we were there.

[00:02:32]Remember you picked it up for him. You came back and hit me on the shoulder and said, "This is good for your picture."

[00:02:37]Because Bob was in it. Right.

[00:02:38]>> And that because that particular script, I mean, was a daring script at the time.

[00:02:42]I From what To us, we were crazy. We thought, "Hey, this is fine. Let's do it." You know? But, apparently, it was disturbed a lot of people. They didn't want to make it. But, Michael and Julia Phillips putting myself together with De Niro and that night of him winning Godfather II helped the picture get made.

[00:02:58]Every director of note he or she who has something to say who can mount a picture beautifully, mostly have to take a lot of risks. And in so doing, change the whole way in which films are made. They change the path. They're the pathfinders.

[00:03:14]Altman developed this style that came out of his life, right? And making television films documentaries and it was so unique and so original I don't even know if I I I can't And they came out like one every two weeks.

[00:03:32]>> [laughter] >> He made his picture after picture after picture. He had a uh a sense of um point of view and um an artistic vision. And the great thing about Altman whether he was lauded by the critics or hated by the critics, he didn't care. He just kept going.

[00:03:53]Nothing stopped him.

[00:03:54]Nothing.

[00:03:55]And the films were not like any other films have been made.

[00:03:59]To the very end. Yeah.

[00:04:01]To the very end. And nothing stopped him. But, it wasn't easy to get the films made in the '70s, but there was an atmosphere of making special movies. A Robert Altman picture. There was a body of work. But, when we hit the '80s it was a complete mess. And everything was really over at that point. I know Altman, after we we we suffered at 20th Century Fox at that time. I had King of Comedy there. And Altman had a film called Health, I think. And they didn't even release it. And after that, I think Bob Altman, for almost 10 years, made smaller pictures, fringe things, until he until he did The Player in 1990. So, they effectively they effectively altered that career.

[00:04:34]And then, finally um finally um just fought our way back.

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