Roger Ebert wrote the first film review that director Martin Scorsese ever received—for 1967’s I Call First, later renamed Who’s That Knocking at My Door—creating a lasting bond that made him one of Scorsese’s most appreciative and perceptive commentators. Scorsese by Ebert offers the first record of America’s most respected film critic’s engagement with the works of America’s greatest living director, chronicling every single feature film in Scorsese’s considerable oeuvre, from his aforementioned debut to his 2008 release, the Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light.
In the course of eleven interviews done over almost forty years, the book also includes Scorsese’s own insights on both his accomplishments and disappointments. Ebert has also written and included six new reconsiderations of the director’s less commented upon films, as well as a substantial introduction that provides a framework for understanding both Scorsese and his profound impact on American cinema.
"Given their career-long back-and-forth, this collection makes perfect sense. . . . In these reconsiderations, Ebert invites us into his thought processes, letting us see not just what he thinks, but how he forms his opinions. Ebert’s insights into Scorsese are terrific, but this book offers the bonus of further insights into Ebert himself."—Time Out Chicago
"Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, is an unabashed fan of Scorsese, whom he considers ‘the most gifted director of his generation.’ . . . Of special note are interviews with Scorsese over a 25-year period, in which the director candidly discusses his body of work."—Publishers Weekly
Roger Ebert is the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times. Starting in 1975, he cohosted a long-running weekly movie review program on television, first with Gene Siskel and then with Richard Roeper. He is the author of numerous books on film, including The Great Movies, The Great Movies II, and Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert, the last published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Martin Scorsese Introduction
Part 1: Beginning Introduction
I Call First
Who’s That Knocking at My Door Reconsideration
Woodstock: An Interview with Martin Scorsese & Company
Boxcar Bertha
Mean Streets
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Taxi Driver An Interview with Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader
New York, New York Reconsideration
The Last Waltz
Part 2: Achieving Introduction
Raging Bull
The King of Comedy Scorsese: King of Romantic Pain Reconsideration
After Hours Reconsideration
The Color of Money
The Last Temptation of Christ Scorsese’s Last Temptation Reconsideration
New York Stories: “Life Lessons” Martin Scorsese and His “New York” Story
Part 3: Establishing Introduction
GoodFellas Why GoodFellas was the Best Film of 1990
Cape Fear
The Age of Innocence The Innocence of Martin Scorsese
Casino De Niro, Pesci, Scorsese Tell a Shocking Mob Story in Casino
Part 4: Reflecting Introduction
Wexner Center for the Arts Interview Part 5: Venturing Introduction
Kundun Scorsese Learns from Those Who Went before Him Reconsideration
Bringing Out the Dead Bringing Out Scorsese
Gangs of New York Gangs All Here for Scorsese
The Aviator Howard's End: Scorsese and the Aviator
