Essay On Auteur In Goodfellas

Discuss, develop and demonstrate, with carefully chosen examples, your own critical perspective and evaluation of Scorsese's significance and importance as a director and ‘auteur'.

An auteur is known to hold sole creative control over his or her movies. The director, who passes on foremost stylistic qualities that reoccur in their accumulation of work with fundamental subjects and traditions all through their filmography effectively embody auteurism. Essential surmise of auteurism is known that the director is the product of his own work, adding his own personal influence to his filmography with certain thematic consistencies. The title is immovably applicable to Martin Scorsese who began his filmmaking career in the midst of the New Hollywood

era, showing a huge influence by the French New Wave and a profound use of music; ranging from opera to rock. Scorsese’s filmography explores the edgy realities of a male-dominated society that particularly draws its focus on Italian-American crowds. His usage of utilising his youth encounters into his collection of work for an individual clash with characters in his films, inserts a deeper association between the auteur and how he desirous his protagonists. His consistent directorial techniques are heavily influential in the modern era, thus making Scorsese one of the most important names in Hollywood. This essay will discuss the centrality Scorsese has among the most important auteurs, with examples taken from Taxi Driver, The Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas, building a fundamental perspective of his criticalness as a director and auteur.
Martin Scorsese produces motion pictures of self-knowledge — specifically, films that depict redemption, violence and religious subjects. With his upbringing in a Catholic household, having at first wanted to become a Catholic cleric, Scorsese embeds his youth years into his assortment of work. The thought of reclamation through violence and sacrifice is a typical topic of the director whose own Catholic foundation reverses into the tale of his films. Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is not looked upon as a religious figure, but he often uses godly imagery to describe the things he sees. Betsy (Cybill Shepard) appears “like an angel out of the open sewer,” while Travis self-proclaims himself to be God’s lonely man. Scorsese speaks on the religious thematics in Taxi Driver saying: “Travis is a commando for God, in a sense. He is full of their same energy, his just goes off in a different direction. He sees something ugly or dirty and he has to clean it up”. After Travis’ blood sacrifice attempt to save Iris and return her to a virginal condition, the film’s conclusion gives the idea that Travis is redeemed from his wrongdoings. Scorsese's thematic style in contributing religion into a character such as Travis, who is vexed by the New York’s filthiness, is consistent. The protagonist makes many references to heaven and hell, signifying a trait that Scorsese embeds his characters with religious characteristics, who eventually seek redemption for their wrongdoings. Subconsciously, it is referring to the forgiveness from God.
Having discussed Scorsese’s thematic consistency in violence, redemption and religion, this essay will next address the importance Scorsese lies on the American Dream, and how it contributes to auteurism. The American Dream is known to be that of what can be accomplished through diligent work. However, in Scorsese’s motion pictures, the prospect of fulfilling the American Dream appears as a considered “entitlement”; something that one has qualified for through criminal conventions. One must go through the traits of betrayal, murdering or lying to stay ahead and meet to the American Dream that a large part of Scorsese's characters is bound for. In one case, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo Di Caprio) deliberately convinces clueless people in The Wolf of Wall Street to place endeavours into penny stocks with next to zero value. On the other hand, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) denies having taken part in a cocaine business to mob associate Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) to continue living the privileged life. But with the degenerate vision of Scorsese's American Dream comes a huge closure in his films which always sees the protagonist wind up in a more regrettable place than of that they were in beforehand. Following the loss of his possessions and fortune, Henry Hill became just another ‘shnook' living a regular life, after betraying his Italian mob partners and exposing them to the cops for their crime-related wrongdoings. Meanwhile, Belfort went from being the biggest con to becoming an advocate speaker to local students. A far cry from the life both protagonists were living during their brief experience of achieving what Scorsese presented as a corrupt vision of the American Dream. It applies to Scorsese’s auteur title in two ways: the idea is consistently revised upon in the director’s movies, making it a consistent topic of his. Secondly, with Scorsese’s family being Italian immigrants themselves, the objective of achieving the American Dream is characterised through his own traits.
In addition to the director’s focus on political topics, Scorsese achieves another auteurist element in his regularity with those whom he chooses to work with. Scorsese follows a very strict author-like direction, reliably meeting expectations with the same crew, and the same actors, such as Robert De Niro and all the more as of late, Leonardo Di Caprio. His characters are all that much imbalanced. Nonetheless, Scorsese’s male-driven protagonists are men of independence who become dominated by the presence of their female partners. This alone, makes Scorsese rise up out of different auteurs as it is an ordinary ascribe, for the most part to have viewers attract to the protagonist as opposed to setting a complex setting with an anti-hero who is to some degree a sociopath with little tolerance towards women. Jordan Belfort are not glamorised often in the way Scorsese chooses to do so. Duping people for their money, undermining his friends and family, cheating on his wife with prostitutes and exploring different avenues on a range of drug substances are some of this character’s common qualities. It is a recurring trait of Scorsese’s who sets an unevenness to his characters. Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street emphasise fundamentally the same protagonists: both are independent entrepreneurs whose characteristics become more detestable, in the long run. In Goodfellas, Henry Hill is a youthful, wannabe criminal who meets expectations some way or another into the Lucchese mob family, where one is known to take part in murders and robberies. Henry soon gets to be obsessed on the thought of owning cash, and after his time in prison, he sets himself up to begin marketing drugs to gain a profit from. Meanwhile, in The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort is a longing New York City stockbroker whose voracious aching for money develops into constant celebration and a drug addiction. Scorsese delineates characters that, while relatable, the director picks not to support his self-developed protagonists as saints as they most frequently pass on features of evilness, making it hard to identify who is great and who is awful.
Of equal importance are Martin Scorsese’s distinctive cinematography techniques, which are instantly recognisable through his successive use of dolly zooms and restless moving camera shots.

Analysing two of his signature techniques, Scorsese’s long takes blend in astoundingly with the narrative of his movies. In Goodfellas, Henry takes Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco) to the Copacabana nightclub. As they pass through the secondary passage of the club to avoid waiting in the queue, a long take showcases Henry's power taking after his alliance with his Italian-American gang as he presents himself with authority by walking through the many passageways before entering the building. Long takes are very popular with Scorsese who uses them repetitively to convey certain messages effectively. Another long shot in Goodfellas when Karen complains to Henry about her abusive neighbour, captivates the scene. The camera follows Henry’s movements in a long take as he crosses the street where he comes face-to-face with Karen’s neighbour who plummets to the ground following a blow to the face. Henry eventually walks back to Karen and assures her she would not be bothered anymore. Just like long takes have become an iconic feature to Scorsese’s filmmaking, so has his persistent use of freeze frames. This camera technique, made well-known in Hollywood by the director himself, is adequately used as a part of circumstances where Scorsese adds more regard for a certain snippet of a scene. Goodfellas sees several freeze frames being used. Henry’s belt beatings by his father for skipping school sees a freeze frame put in place, followed by the use of narration. The Wolf Of Wall Street takes after this specific characteristic additionally, starting its opening succession with an acceptable freeze frame when the protagonist presents himself. Scorsese's decision in solidifying the frame shot and applying a voice-over on top of it gives the general look an emotional impact to the scene as an

approach to developing its significance. It attracts the viewer to the story of what is being said, stopping the activity of the scene and moving one's consideration on what the narrative discusses.
Furthermore, an alternate part that has paid a gigantic effect in Martin Scorsese's filmmaking vocation as an auteur is his energy for compelling use of music in his visuals; opera, rock and jazz being seen as some of his most progressive ones. Through his Italian roots, Scorsese was influenced by many musical genres, however operatic music had a tendency to have stood out the most. Consequently, Scorsese is all that tremendously influenced in using this particular sound through his gathering of work. The director would proceed to clarify how Italian operatic composers, such as, Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni, helped him grasp on a vision for his films just by listening to the specific tones, saying: “It was a vehicle for me, it took me to visual dreaming, so to speak, visual images – I imagined stories, I imagined camera movements.” Scorsese favouring Italian arrangers gives the feeling that he is paying tribute to his way of life, affected by his childhood. Operatic composed music is vividly added to a scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, following Donnie Azoff’s (Jonah Hill) decision to experiment with a new drug substance. Donnie hallucinates, and the operatic music starts to blur in. In the meantime, Scorsese executes a moderate movement altering shot, coordinating the pace of the sound, deliberately making the scene meet the music's standard of beat. Scorsese does the same in Goodfellas when a conflicted situation leads to Tommy Devito (Joe Pesci) stabbing William "Billy Batts" Devino (Frank Vincent) to death; the use of up-rhythm music matches the beat of the scene. It is without a doubt that Scorsese culminates his group of work through consistency characteristics and individual yearnings.
The significance of what Scorsese has accomplished in American cinema is hard to obliterate. His critical attention to detail along with the significance he finds in actuating his own character into his group of work, laying basic consideration on personalised themes, is marvellous. Through camera techniques, a stylistic choice in music and directing, Martin Scorsese has given the feeling that film art is boundless so long there is authenticity in the work. Scorsese has remained loyal to his traits throughout his four decades as one of the most fascinating auteurs, daring himself to go beyond normality and create a world of his own. His efforts “render meaning to life” by developing issues of masculinity, dealing with the idea of achieving something that is not rightfully earned, while his passion for crime-related films continues to blossom through his collection of films to this date. Scorsese appears as a standout among the most essential figures in film authorship on the grounds that his assortment of work has demonstrated that this director stays authentic and consistent on the matter of his astounding, auteur filmmaking. American cinema is characterised through the work of Scorsese, whose excess themes and notions of gang conflict, violence and modern crime open a new diversion on how motion pictures are looked upon.

Bibliography

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Filmography

Taxi Driver. Bill-Phillips Production ; Columbia Pictures ; Italo/Judeo Production, 1976. DVD.

The Wolf Of Wall Street. Paramount Pictures, 2013. DVD.

Goodfellas. Warner Bros, 1990. DVD.