Martin Scorsese’s filmography has grossed more than 2.1 Billion dollars worldwide. He is, without a doubt, one of the most successful directors in the world.
Let’s take a look at Scorsese’s background, a list of his most famous movies, and dive into some of his precious advice for screenwriters.
Who is Martin Scorsese?
Scorsese was born in Flushing New York in an Italian American family on November 17, 1942. He grew up in Little Italy, Manhattan, and both his parents were actors. Just like Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese always loved movies. The fact that he had severe asthma and couldn’t play sports contributed to this.
He earned a bachelor’s at the New York University after receiving a $500 scholarship for a short comedy he made. After graduating, he started making a bunch of short films in the 60s.
His directorial feature debut was the movie “Who’s That Knocking at My Door” (1967). The first minutes of his debut film can be found here. Did this movie make Scorsese famous? No. In fact, it took another ten years until he was recognized by his peers with the movie “Taxi Driver.”
Let’s take a look at his impressive filmography.
Mean Streets (1973)
Length: 112 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
US Box Office: $32,645
World Box Office: $41,131
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Martin Scorsese (screenplay) (story) | Mardik Martin (screenplay)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Logline: A small-time hood tries to keep the peace between his friend Johnny and Johnny’s creditors.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Length: 114 min
Genre: Crime, Drama,
US Box Office: $28,262,574
World Box Office: $28,570,902
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Paul Schrader
Actors: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel
Logline: A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
New York, New York (1977)
Length: 155 min
Genre: Drama, Musical
US Box Office: $16,400,000
World Box Office: $16,400,000
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Earl Mac Rauch (screenplay) (story) | Mardik Martin (screenplay)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli, Lionel Stander, Mary Kay Place,
Logline: An egotistical saxophonist and a young lounge singer meet on VJ Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long, uphill climb.
Raging Bull (1980)
Length: 129 min
Genre: Drama, Biography, Sport
US Box Office: $23,383,987
World Box Office: $23,402,427
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Jake LaMotta (based on the books by) | Joseph Carter (with) | Peter Savage (with) | Paul Schrader (screenplay) | Mardik Martin (screenplay)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
Logline: The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
The King of Comedy (1982)
Length: 109 min
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime
US Box Office: $2,536,242
World Box Office: $2,536,242
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Paul D. Zimmerman
Actors: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Logline: Rupert Pupkin is a passionate yet unsuccessful comic who craves nothing more than to be in the spotlight and to achieve this, he stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.
After Hours (1985)
Length: 97 min
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime
US Box Office: $10,609,321
World Box Office: $10,609,321
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Joseph Minion
Actors: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom
Logline: An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Length: 164 min
Genre: Drama
US Box Office: $8,373,585
World Box Office: $8,865,702
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Nikos Kazantzakis (novel) | Paul Schrader (screenplay)
Actors: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Verna Bloom
Logline: The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross.
Goodfellas (1990)
Length: 145 min
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
US Box Office: $46,909,721
World Box Office: $47,036,784
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Nicholas Pileggi (book “Wiseguy”) (screenplay) | Martin Scorsese (screenplay)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino
Logline: The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate.
Cape Fear (1991)
Length: 128 min
Genre: Crime, Thriller
US Box Office: $79,091,969
World Box Office: $182,291,969
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: John D. MacDonald (novel “The Executioners”) | James R. Webb (earlier screenplay) | Wesley Strick (screenplay)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis
Logline: A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Length: 139 min
Genre: Drama, Romance
US Box Office: $32,255,440
World Box Office: $32,255,440
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Edith Wharton (novel “The Age of Innocence”) | Jay Cocks (screenplay) | Martin Scorsese (screenplay)
Actors: Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Michelle Pfeiffer
Logline: A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman’s cousin.
Casino (1995)
Length: 178 min
Genre: Crime, Drama
US Box Office: $42,512,375
World Box Office: $116,112,375
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Nicholas Pileggi (book) (screenplay) | Martin Scorsese (screenplay)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods, Don Rickles
Logline: A tale of greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two best friends: a mafia enforcer and a casino executive compete against each other over a gambling empire, and over a fast-living and fast-loving socialite.
Kundun (1997)
Length: 134 min
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
US Box Office: $5,684,789
World Box Office: $5,684,789
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Melissa Mathison
Actors: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong,Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin
Logline: From childhood to adulthood, Tibet’s fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Length: 121 min
Genre: Drama, Thriller
US Box Office: $16,797,191
World Box Office: $16,797,191
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Joe Connelly (novel) | Paul Schrader (screenplay)
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Marc Anthony
Logline: Haunted by the patients he failed to save, a monumentally burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three increasingly turbulent nights.
Gangs of New York (2002)
Length: 167 min
Genre: Crime, Drama
US Box Office: $77,812,000
World Box Office: $193,772,504
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Jay Cocks (story) (screenplay) | Steven Zaillian (screenplay) | Kenneth Lonergan (screenplay)
Actors: Leonardo Di Caprio, Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Jim Broadbent, Daniel Day-Lewis
Logline: In 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father’s killer.
The Aviator (2004)
Length: 170 min
Genre: Drama, Biography
US Box Office: $102,610,330
World Box Office: $213,719,942
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Sanford R. Climan (as Sandy Climan) | Matthias Deyle | Charles Evans Jr. | Graham King | Michael Mann
Actors: Leonardo Di Caprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law
Logline: A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes’ career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
The Departed (2006)
Length: 151 min
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
US Box Office: $132,399,394
World Box Office: $291,480,452
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: William Monahan (screenplay) | Alan Mak (2002 screenplay Mou gaan dou) | Felix Chong (2002 screenplay Mou gaan dou)
Actors: Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin
Logline: An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
Shutter Island (2010)
Length: 138 min
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
US Box Office: $128,012,934
World Box Office: $294,805,697
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Bradley J. Fischer | Mike Medavoy | Arnold Messer (as Arnold W. Messer) | Martin Scorsese
Actors: Leonardo Di Caprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson
Logline: In 1954, a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.
Hugo (2011)
Length: 126 min
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family
US Box Office: $73,864,507
World Box Office: $185,770,310
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: John Logan (screenplay by) | Brian Selznick (based on the book entitled “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by)
Actors: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chloe Grace Moretz
Logline: In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Length: 180 min
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Crime
US Box Office: $116,900,694
World Box Office: $406,878,233
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Riza Aziz | Leonardo DiCaprio | Joey McFarland (p.g.a.) | Martin Scorsese | Emma Tillinger Koskoff
Actors: Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau
Logline: Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.
Silence (2016)
Length: 161 min
Genre: Drama, History
US Box Office: $7,100,177
World Box Office: $23,834,809
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Jay Cocks (screenplay by) | Martin Scorsese (screenplay by) | Shûsaku Endô (based on the novel by)
Actors: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson
Logline: In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
The Irishman (2019)
Length: 209 min
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
US Box Office: $968,853 (only available for a three-week exclusive limited run in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles before hitting Netflix)
World Box Office: N/A (no theatrical release, only on Netflix). 26 million people watched the movie on Netflix in its first week.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Steven Zaillian (screenplay by) | Charles Brandt (based upon the book by)
Actors: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel
Logline: Hitman Frank Sheeran looks back at the secrets he kept as a loyal member of the Bufalino crime family.
His Movie Themes
As you can see from this list, Scorsese spends a lot of time talking and questioning himself about faith. He was raised Catholic and almost became a priest before pursuing movies.
Other themes that he explores in his movies are the Italian-American identity, gang conflict, class relations and redemption.
Scorsese also uses a lot of his background and the things he’s gone through or seen as he grew up.
To read more about his use of themes and how to find your own voice as a screenwriter, read this article on writing style.
His Words On Screenwriting
Martin Scorsese advises writing with music in mind. Thinking about music will give life to your scenes.
Write your characters with clear wants and needs. Make sure it is evident to the audience what your characters want, and make sure that they are interesting characters to follow. Find the humanity in your anti-heroes.
Watch movies and study them. That is the only way to become a master at writing movies.
If you want to watch Martin Scorsese, talk about this and give more advice, watch this video.
Now that you have a list of Martin Scorsese’s greatest movies, use his advice and study them one by one.
What made those specific movies impact several generations? Watch them, study the stories, characters, camera movements, and get inspired by Scorsese to write your own masterpiece.