Martin Scorsese, ‘the reigning king of cinema’, will get an honorary Golden Bear on the 74th Berlinale.
Aseem Chhabra reviews.
IMAGE: Martin Scorsese on the Berlinale. Photograph: Aseem Chhabra
In 1978, German film-maker Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, Perfect Days) was on his method to the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. But he was driving and determined to take the scenic route alongside the Utah-Arizona border to see the Monument Valley.
For the longest time, he drove on the huge empty street with nobody in sight. Then all of a sudden he noticed a automotive parked on the aspect with a flat tire. One of the occupants of the automotive, Director Martin Scorsese, had managed to take away the flat tire.
Or as Wenders mentioned, ‘Ladies and gents, Martin Scorsese did handle to take off the flat tire.’
But the rented automotive didn’t have a spare tire.
In the pre-cell cellphone days, Scorsese and his associates, together with the director’s then girlfriend, actress Isabella Rossellini (Scorsese and Rossellini would get married subsequent 12 months) had been determined for assist. And Wenders appeared out of nowhere as an angel.
This previous Tuesday night time, Wenders narrated this story and confirmed black and white images he took at the moment with a panoramic digital camera that he owned.
In the pictures, Scorsese, Rossellini and some others are standing round an outdated American automotive.
The broken tire is prominently displayed on the street. Wenders was not making up the story. The images had been his proof, he mentioned.
IMAGE: Martin Scorsese and Win Wenders on the Berlinale. Photograph: Aseem Chhabra
Wenders spoke on the 74th Berlinale earlier than Scorsese was introduced with an honorary Golden Bear, a lifetime achievement award that the competition bestows on a senior movie character yearly.
In introducing Scorsese, Wenders referred to him as ‘The Reigning King of Cinema’.
Wenders additionally mentioned that whereas Scorsese is an American film-maker, his film-making fashion has European sensibilities, particularly given how a lot he has been impressed by Italian neo-realist cinema.
The star-studded sold-out night time was attended by many celebrities, together with Scorsese’s longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker who has received three Oscars, all of for movies directed by the film-maker (Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Departed), Sharon Stone (she performed the lead in Scorsese’s Casino) and German Turkish director Fatih Akin.
The Berlinale Palast theatre with 1,800 seats was filled with followers of Scorsese who cheered the director and his younger daughter Francesca.
The ceremony started with clips from Scorsese’s 2023 movie, Killers of Flower Moon, nominated for 10 Academy Awards. The clips had been accompanied by a dwell orchestra taking part in the rating of the movie composed by the late Robbie Robertson.
Another spotlight of the programme was a separate set of clips from Scorsese’s different movies together with The Departed, After Hours (each of that are displaying on the Berlinale in new restored prints), Taxi Driver, Age of Innocence, Kundan, Silence, Gangs of New York, Bringing Out the Dead, The Wolf of Wall Street, Cape Fear, Raging Bull and others, displaying his various story-telling talent.
IMAGE: Martin Scorsese on the Berlinale. Photograph: Aseem Chhabra
In his acceptance speech, Scorsese praised Wenders and referred to his newest movie Perfect Days as probably the greatest of 2023.
Scorsese thanked the Berlinale and different festivals that gave alternatives to younger film-makers.
Film festivals matter, the director mentioned, referring to the 12 months 1968 when Brian De Palma received the Silver Bear on the Berlinale for his movie, Greetings.
That was an essential turning level for a lot of younger film-makers, who had been making low funds impartial movies in America, he mentioned.
Hollywood studios began taking film-makers like De Palma, Scorsese, Jim McBride and Phil Kaufman critically. Soon after, Scorsese directed his early movies Boxcar Bertha (1972) and Mean Streets (1973).
Scorsese has made at the very least three journeys to the Berlinale, unveiling Raging Bull (1980), The Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light (2008) and The 50 Years Argument (2014). This 12 months along with receiving the honorary Golden Bear, Scorsese had one other documentary taking part in on the competition, Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger.
Earlier, Wenders mentioned that Scorsese really doesn’t like making movies as a result of that forces him to get up early. But Scorsese ended his acceptance speech with a bit announcement.
The film-maker was nonetheless alive within the 82-year-old-master. Perhaps, he mentioned, he could be again on the Berlinale in “a couple of years”.
