Scorsese Shorts
8 Episodes
Criterion Collection Edition #1030
This compilation of five early short films by Martin Scorsese offers a fascinating window onto his artistic development. Spanning the years from Scorsese’s time at NYU in the mid-1960s to the late ’70s, when he was emerging as one of the era’s most electrifying talents, SCORSESE SHORTS centers on the intimate home movie ITALIANAMERICAN—a loving snapshot of the director’s parents—and AMERICAN BOY, a freewheeling portrait of a larger-than-life raconteur. Also included are THE BIG SHAVE, a daringly visceral response to America’s involvement in Vietnam, and the bracing student films WHAT’S A NICE GIRL LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS? and IT’S NOT JUST YOU, MURRAY! Touching on many of Scorsese’s key themes—Italian American identity, family, his beloved New York City—these are hilarious, candid, and illuminating works from the pre¬eminent American filmmaker of our time.
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49:34Episode 1Italianamerican
Episode 1
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1974 • United States
Starring Catherine Scorsese, Charles ScorseseIn one of his most personal works, Martin Scorsese sits down with his parents, Catherine and Charles, in their New York apartment for a free-flowing discussion that touches on family history, the imm...
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American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince
Episode 2
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1978 • United States
Starring Steven PrinceMartin Scorsese spends an evening with larger-than-life raconteur Steven Prince—a former drug addict, road manager for Neil Diamond, and actor who memorably played the gun salesman in TAXI DRIVER—as he recounts stories fro...
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05:53Episode 3The Big Shave
Episode 3
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1967 • United States
Starring Peter BernuthA pristine white bathroom soon becomes a site of crimson-stained shaving carnage in Martin Scorsese’s daring student film, a potent and disturbing allegory for the horrors of the Vietnam War.
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16:42Episode 4It’s Not Just You, Murray!
Episode 4
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1964 • United States
Starring Ira Rubin, Sam DeFazio, Andrea MartinMade while Martin Scorsese was studying at NYU, this inventive, award-winning student film pays tongue-in-cheek homage to the classic gangster movie via a portrait of a high-rolling mobster looking ...
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What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?
Episode 5
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1963 • United States
Starring Zeph Michaelis, Mimi Stark, Sarah BravemanThis giddily experimental student film by Martin Scorsese employs a jumble of freewheeling optical effects as it tells the surreal story of a man who becomes increasingly obsessed with a pictur...
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43:45Episode 6Martin Scorsese and Farran Smith Nehme
Episode 6
This conversation between director Martin Scorsese and film critic Farran Smith Nehme was conducted in February 2020 in New York City.
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The Safdie Brothers and Ari Aster on Martin Scorsese
Episode 7
This conversation on director Martin Scorsese among filmmakers Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, and Ari Aster was recorded in January 2020 in New York City.
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22:46Episode 8Scorsese on WNYC, 1970
Episode 8
As part of the WNYC radio series Artists in the City, host Doris Freedman interviews a twenty-seven-year-old Martin Scorsese about curating New York City’s first Movies in the Park series, as well as the direction in which the New American Cinema movement of the time was heading. The interview wa...
