Andrew Sarris Auteur

Andrew Sarris’ framework for being an auteur has requirements which include technical competence, having a distinguishable personality that appears in ones films as well as an interior meaning, which described as tension between the filmmakers personality and his/her work. Martin Scorsese, as applied to Sarris’ explanation can be studied as an auteur because of his immense technical know-how as well as his experience; Scorsese has a signature style which includes gritty, violent filmmaking, use of recurring actors and well placed music as well as showing his villains in a likeable way appears to be his interior meaning. For research I screened the films The Departed, GoodFellas, and Gangs of New York. In viewing his three films the elements

This film clearly had strong male leads, violence, and moments of comedy all in one coherent piece. There is a scene which has Jack Nicholson’s character by the name of “Frank” having a conversation with “Will” played by Leonardo Di Caprio, about the possibility of their being a rat or snitch in the group, as Nicholson’s character is saying those lines he mimics a rat gnawing, as serious and tense of a situation that scene was, humor made it more tense by showcasing the insanity within “Frank”. This particular shot encapsulates Scorsese’s playful aesthetic and vibe which is in all of his movies. In making this films antagonist such a strong presence Scorsese finds a way to kill him justly by being shot multiple times, a choice he has made with many others in his films. In that same scene Nicholson’s character basically dead fires a last shot and then, is again shot, this is what I meant by a playful aesthetic, Scorsese had to include a little bit of humor. His films have memorable villains and all seem to meet a fitting end; elements of grittiness and a pretty intense amount of violence, as well as a sort of admiration to the intelligence and fearlessness of the characters were showcased in this particular

GoodFellas again has this balance of likeable yet violent and humorous quality to its characters, which is a definite trademark of Scorsese. This film shows gangsters and the acts they commit while being part of a mob family. In this particular film the presence of a preferred working relationship was evident by casting Robert De Niro having worked with Scorsese since the 70’s and Joe Pesci, who was previously on the film Raging Bull. Authenticity is a possible factor being De Niro and Pesci and their characters are Italian but it is more than that, these actors are able to incorporate so much into their roles as evident by the wonderful performances; Scorsese knew that and had trust in their ability to elevate what was on the script into a work of art. One scene that has that Scorsese style has Pesci’s character “Tommy” complaining about getting blood on his shoes after stomping a man to death in a little bar, as morbid as it is it the obliviousness that his character showed carries a black comedy element to it, a motif all too well seen in his films. Growing up catholic seemed to influence his works and in this movie that remains true. In GoodFellas religion is spoken of in quite a few scenes, one in particular Ray Liotta’s character “Henry Hill” is talking to a possible girlfriend’s mother and she asks if he is Jewish; he replies “only the good half”. Those familiar with Scorsese’s work know