KUNDUN

Please let me know what you thought of this week's film. Feel free to make connections between this work and the previous films of Martin Scorsese's that we've screened throughout the semester. Also, I mentioned in class what Bernardo Bertolucci called and asked Scorsese just as he was about to start shooting Kundun: "Have you learned that everything is form and form is emptiness?" If you can, consider how this question structurally and aesthetically applies to this very spiritual film.

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

This film is often considered a great departure from Martin Scorsese's previous offerings. Respond freely to what you thought about it. Please try to articulate the ways in which The Age of Innocence is similar and/or different to the other Scorsese films we've seen this semester. Also, if you can, consider the ways in which Scorsese aesthetically achieves, as he says in the interview I handed out last week, "that sense of memory and loss, deja vu almost."

I look forward to reading what you write. Have fun with it!

GOODFELLAS & CASINO

Let me know what you thought of the excerpts we saw in class this week. Free style.

Also, how do the pictures of Martin Scorsese's that we've been watching every Tuesday for the past two months inform your understanding of Goodfellas and Casino now? If you've seen the films before, please incorporate into your response the ways (if any) that your feelings about them have changed.

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

Please respond to this week's film with as much passion and as much detail as you can.

I really look forward to reading what you write!

THE KING OF COMEDY

Please let me know in as much detail as you can provide what you thought of this week's film, focusing in particular on what it was about it that you appreciated the most (a scene, a performance, an aesthetic choice, etc.).

Also, in this past week's reading from Scorsese on Scorsese, the director talks about how he and his friends have a running joke about referring to slow movies (those where the camera doesn't move much) as "mature." Scorsese read in the Village Voice that Jim Jarmusch said something like, "I'm not interested in taking people by the hair and telling them where to look." In response, Scorsese says, "Well, I do want them to see the way I see. Walking down the street, looking quickly about, tracking, panning, zooming, cutting and all that sort of thing. I like it when two images go together and they move."

At the conclusion of your response, let me know whose side you're on - Jarmusch's or Scorsese's? And briefly explain your choice.

I look forward to reading what you write!

RAGING BULL - OLD

Please give me your thoughts and feelings about this week's film, which - as I said in class - is currently considered one of the greatest American films of all time. Besides giving me your honest thoughts and feelings (which you can hopefully back up with references from specific moments/scenes) - I would like you to briefly reflect on why you think critics and the general public alike hold Raging Bull in such very high regard.

Finally, at the end of your response, consider the following: at the end of the film, Jake LaMotta sits in front of a backstage mirror reciting a monologue from On the Waterfront. One reviewer called it the most violent scene in the film. Scorsese himself said: "When [Jake] says in the mirror, 'It was you, Charlie,' is he playing his brother, or putting the blame on himself?' It's certainly very disturbing to me." Please respond to Scorsese's question: do you think Jake is 'playing his brother' or putting the blame on himself? And why do you think this is 'very disturbing' to Scorsese?

I look forward to reading what you write - and to receiving your second essay proposals in class on Tuesday.

King of Comedy - here we come!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK? THE LAST WALTZ? AMERICAN BOY?

We screened three Martin Scorsese films in class this week - lots of clips from New York, New York and The Last Waltz, as well as the rarely seen American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince in its entirety. Of the three, which one had the greatest impact on you? Which one interested you the least? And, most importantly, why?

Please include your answers to my questions in this week's response. And, as always, back up your comments as to why the films you chose were your favorite and least favorite with aesthetic and thematic references to specific scenes and moments from each film.