Funny Thing About Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is certainly not known as a comedic filmmaker. His best known films are grim, usually violent depictions of human interaction. But even the darkest of these is laced with sardonic wit. It's not a coincidence that Joe Pesci went from his career resurgence in Scorsese's Goodfellas to lead roles in comedies like My Cousin Vinny and The Super.
In fact, many of the indelible moments from his films are the darkly funny ones: Amos (Forrest Whitaker) asking Eddie (Paul Newman), "Tell me honestly, do you think I need to lose weight?" in The Color of Money; Travis (Robert De Niro) obliviously taking Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) to a porn film on their first date in Taxi Driver; Max Cady (De Niro) terrorizing the Bowden family by laughing excessively at Problem Child in Cape Fear; and perhaps most memorably, Tommy (Pesci), in Goodfellas, scaring the crap out of Henry (Ray Liotta), asking him, "How am I funny?"
Now Scorsese's latest, Hugo is up for a slew of Academy Awards, and while there's an underlying sadness that permeates the first two-thirds of the film, it is probably his most lighthearted feature ever. There has always been a palpable enthusiasm to his filmmaking, but this is the first time it's been applied to such joyous and deeply personal subject matter.
Funny Way to Start
Scorsese's earliest films, made when he was still a student at New York University, were comedic. What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? and It's Not Just You, Murray are recognizably student films, but they have their charm, and it's clear that they're made with a passion for the medium. Murray, about a bootlegger betrayed by his partner, hints at more violence than is shown, and is mostly played for wry laughs. It wasn't until he made The Big Shave, a simple short of a man shaving that turns unexpectedly gruesome, that Scorsese's propensity for onscreen violence came to light.
