Mr. Scorsese (Episodes 3 & 4). 2025. USA. Directed by Rebecca Miller. DCP. 106 min.
Building on the crash-and-burn redemption narrative of Scorsese’s 1970s, episode three (“Saint/Sinner”) is titled after a quote from Scorsese’s third wife Isabella Rosselini, one of many A-list interviewees whose presence adds frankness and texture to an otherwise well-known life history. Given Scorsese’s belovedness today, it’s more important than ever to remember his battles with studios, reluctant turn towards more commercial projects, and eventual struggle to create The Last Temptation of Christ (to say nothing of weathering that film’s culture-war controversy.) In the fourth episode, “Total Cinema”, these turbulent decades culminate in the breakout success of Goodfellas, a monster hit that also won Scorsese newfound respect for its bleakly hilarious depiction of the mafia lifestyle. Here, we see this acclaim (which metastasized into a generation-spanning cultural phenomenon) advances Scorsese as Hollywood’s supreme auteur, without giving up the “lack of moral closure” which Jodie Foster designates his signature as an artist.