Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Direction: Martin Scorsese
Country: USA

Displaying a personal filmic vision, Martin Scorsese directs the historical western crime film, Killers of the Flower Moon, with insight and restraint, benefiting from outstanding performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone. This epic and tragic account accurately depicts Oklahoma in the 1920s, portraying the series of murders of the native Osage tribe by greedy, powerful white men coveting their lands and oil headrights. The asphyxiating monstrosity of the actions is encouraged by a corrupt and racist system that threatens the cultural survival of the Native American tribe in question.

The screenplay, co-written by Scorsese and Eric Roth, based on David Grann’s nonfictional book of the same name, follows the war veteran Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio), advised by his corrupt uncle and crime lord, William King Hale (De Niro), to marry the wealthy Indian Mollie Kyle (Gladstone). One of after another, members of her family are mercilessly murdered until the arrival of a Bureau of Investigation team led by agent Thomas Bruce White Sr. (Jesse Plemons). 

We are caught in the gut with this painful reflection on the American history, transformed in a momentous, highly entertaining picture. Scorsese's impressive narration, not praising violence but rather coming to terms with it, flows at a constant pace. The film is nourished by extraordinary performances by the three leads, an accomplished blues-roots score by the late Robbie Robertson, impeccable editing by Thelma Schoonmaker, and delightful images - sharpened by Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto - forming a masterfully staged fresco darkly hued by cynicism, avidity, and transgression.

The Irishman (2019)

Direction: Martin Scorsese
Country: USA

Who, other than Martin Scorsese, would be able to direct a grandiose epic movie about the mob with such authenticity? The Irishman, his new engrossing gangster classic, is crammed with virtuosic actors with a vast experience in portraying roles connected to the organized crime. Robert De Niro and an unusually quiet Joe Pesci team up again under Scorsese’s guidance, 24 years after Casino and 29 after Goodfellas. Al Pacino joins them here to play a key role, and together, even functioning in a more restrained mode, they show they still have it. The film, hoisted by a sharp perspective of the Mafia statutes back in the 50’s, was penned by the awarded screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List; Gangs of New York), in a compelling adaptation of Charles Brandt’s 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses.

The narrative scuttles back and forth in time, telling how the Philadelphian truck driver and meat delivery guy Frank Sheeran (De Niro) gradually becomes an important figure in the Cosa Nostra criminal society after establishing solid friendships with the high-ranked mafioso Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and the powerful union labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). Frank’s loyalty to the organization is put to a test when he is ordered to kill the ambitious, stubborn and difficult Hoffa, to whom he became very close.

Scenes of violent killings, tense meetings, and complicated negotiations take turns, oftentimes with a sardonic humor hooked up. Aging alone, Frank realizes that his old pals and family are gone and nothing good has left from his criminal life to be remembered. And that’s where the guilt bites hard. Deep down, he would like to be a better man than he actually is.

Clocking in at three and a half hours, The Irishman feels painfully real, adding new stimulus to a crowded genre where only true experts can succeed. Scorsese and this mind-blowing cast are all about perfection.

Rolling Thunder Revue (2019)

Direction: Martin Scorsese
Country: USA

Celebrated filmmaker Martin Scorsese has shown his knack for music documentaries with solid works such as The Last Waltz (1978), Shine a Light (2008), and George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011). However, his efforts reveal disappointing results in Rolling Thunder Revue, a sort of mockumentary with real and fake footage and fabricated interviews about Bob Dylan’s legendary concert tour in the mid-70s. The series of concerts would allow Dylan to perform in smaller venues in a more intimate connection with the audience. The political context comes forward and goes well with the confrontational activism of the talented young musicians, who abandoned themselves to socially conscious, politically charged music.

While Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Allen Ginsberg were actually part of this American caravan, the unsatisfied filmmaker Stefan Van Dorp, event promoter Jim Gianopulos, and Rep. Jack Tanner are all fake characters played by actors. Moreover, Scorsese utilizes Sharon Stone, in flesh and bone, as tantalizing bait to his story, increasing the mordancy when she states, flattered, that “Just Like a Woman” was written for her. Conversely, the story behind the protest song “Hurricane”, written for boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, is authentic.

The music is great, yet this artful satire never really stood out as something really big, working more like a benign prankster spreading misinformation than giving a consistent insight about the topic. In a similar way, the interviews only served to make things more recondite, enhancing the artificiality of a make-believe that, at least, could have put an extra effort to be funnier. Rolling Thunder Revue doesn’t break any ground and proves more unimaginative than impressionistic.

Silence (2016)

Directed by Martin Scorsese
Country: USA

Widely respected American director Martin Scorsese, who gave us gems like “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”, didn’t quite succeed in passing to the screen all the power of the account he depicts in “Silence”, an epic historical drama he wrote with Jay Cooks based upon the Shusaku Endo’s 1966 novel of the same name.

The film, set in 17th-century Japan and focusing on the predicaments of a shaky Christianity, stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two missionary Jesuit priests, Father Sebastião Rodrigues and Father Francisco Garupe, respectively, who set foot in Nagasaki to find the missing Father Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson). The rumors are that Ferreira, verged by torture, ended up abdicating of his faith.
For the trip, they rely on the guidance of Kichijiro (Yosuke Kubozuka), a tormented alcoholic fisherman whose disguised faith doesn’t make him less tricky.

Once in Japan, the two men are welcomed by a secluded group of local Christians who live hidden in underground caves. They try to escape the ‘inquisitors’ and their torture. 
Eventually, the resistant priests are caught, learning that coexistence between Christians and Japanese are impracticable. Their faith is put to test as they observe brothers and sisters being mercilessly burnt, drawn, humiliated, and both tortured and executed through dreadful methods.
Even when Ferreira finally shows his face, revealing new ideals, the film couldn’t leave behind its long-drawn-out development.

Religious faith topic was never better depicted as it was with Bergman, Bresson and Dreyer. Unfortunately, “Silence” didn’t allow Scorsese to be among them since faith doesn't live in it.
Even vulnerable in regard to flow and pace, he was able to create a minimally decent whole with the uneven parts. He achieved that by taking well advantage from the stunning cinematography by Denis Prieto as well as the strong acting.