CinemaThe filmmaker who showed Martin Scorsese what it means to be a directorChosen directed a classic western from the 1950s starring actor John Waynetoday at 08:00

One of the greatest filmmakers in history, Martin Scorsese He began his career in the 1960s and since then, he has directed several classics. Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Good Companions (1990), The Departed (2006) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) are some of the examples.

Naturally, Scorsese became a reference for later generations of professionals. However, he also had his influences. On one occasion, the American mentioned the filmmaker responsible for showing him what it means to be a film director.

In 1990, Scorsese gave an interview to the now extinct film magazine Cinema Papers during the dissemination of The Good Companions. When asked about the director who became the biggest influence on his career, he gave the following answer:

The first one that I remember liking and that I was too young to understand what a director did was John Ford. I just saw his name in every movie I liked.”

Right away, Martin remembered more names of importance for his career. He said:

Then, the Orson Wellesfrom whom I learned what a director really does. At the same time, I lived with the films of Michael Powell. I saw them on television all the time. And those of Carol Reed, Sam Fuller, Vincente Minnelli and so on. There are so many.”

John Ford’s film is one of Martin Scorsese’s favorites

In another interview, now for the British Film Institute (via I LoveCinema), Martin Scorsese reinforced admiration for John Ford. When choosing one of the best films ever made in his opinion, he cited a classic directed by the filmmaker and seen by him as a teenager: the western Traces of Hate (1956), starring John Wayne.

The nature of anger, hatred and racism Ethan Edwards (the film’s protagonist) is so profound in that film that it’s shocking. It’s a shocking film. And it was a great influence on all of us. It’s a film that, of course, is difficult. Of its time. There are white actors playing natives, all that kind of stuff. But the whole idea is fascinating. The big question in that film, why we watch it repeatedly, and beyond its poetry, is Ethan Edwards and the depth of his anger and his hatred, which is fascinating. I was 13 years old. This is the film John Ford that made the most sense to me. The main character makes perfect sense in post-war America.”

Also American, John Ford died on August 31, 1973, aged 79. One of the most celebrated filmmakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age, he was awarded six Oscars throughout his career. The Grapes of Wrath, The Man Who Killed Facínora, How Green My Valley Was, Traces of Hate, The Whistleblower and After the Gale are some of his classics.

Collaborated: Augusto Ikeda.