Mr. Scorsese is a five-part documentary series from director Rebecca Miller. The first two episodes cover Scorsese’s early years. It starts at the beginning of Martin Scorsese’s life and charts his childhood growing up amid the rough and tumble streets of Little Italy in New York City. It moves through his flirtation with entering the priesthood and his time as a film student at NYU. None of this is necessarily new to those familiar with Scorsese’s work. But Miller has access to almost everyone who played a part in his life, and those interviews provide a context and nuance that’s more insightful than simply hearing it from Martin himself. 

 

Childhood pals tell stories about Martin as a boy and offer a glimpse into the type of youngster he was. Long-time editor and collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker shows off frame by frame shots in Raging Bull, highlighting how Scorsese’s brilliance in mixing camera speeds and close-ups elevates the boxing scenes. Scorsese’s daughters give background into his parental guidance (or lack thereof, really). And Miller does an excellent job of honing in on all of the themes we see throughout Scorsese’s filmography: his sense of being an outsider in his childhood and in Hollywood, his grappling with morality by way of his Catholicism, and the violence that’s prevalent in almost all of his work. 

 

Miller doesn’t do anything novel or risky here. Martin glides over turbulent times in his life (like his four marriages that ended in divorce or his cocaine-fueled era that landed him in the hospital) and Miller doesn’t push him. She keeps things mostly straightforward and presents a chronological, in-depth look at Martin’s life and his work. New fans have the opportunity to learn a lot about the storied filmmaker. And there’s enough intrigue and behind the scenes insights into Scorsese’s life to keep even the most Scorsese-obsessed fan engaged. 

 

At the very least, this docu-series will make you want to do a deep dive into Scorsese’s films to revisit some of your favorites and finally watch the deep cuts you never got around to watching. But the real value of Mr. Scorsese is that it gives us a chance to admire and discuss one of the most interesting and prolific directors of our time.