There is no doubting how good Martin Scorsese is when it comes to directing a number of iconic films, however there will be some that will argue that he does not get all the credit that he deserves considering the feature films that he has had a role in producing.
Whilst Scorsese has been able to land himself numerous nominations for a plethora of films that he has produced over the years, he has only been able to secure a handful of awards at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globe Awards. Admittedly, 54 awards for a total of 246 nominations is not a bad ratio, but many will feel he deserves to have picked up more Best Director awards throughout his long career; especially as he is widely regarded as being one of the most significant and influential directors in modern film history.
Nonetheless, here are three of the top films he has directed, with each of them featuring a certain actor that he certainly had a liking to.
Goodfellas
Created and released in 1990, Goodfellas is arguably one of Martin Scorsese’s best movies ever as he co-wrote this Italian mob gangster movie with Nicholas Pileggi and based it on the book ‘Wiseguy’ that was written by his co-writer.
The film features Robert De Nero, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino and makes the gangster life look rather glamorous as suits, jewellery and cigars can all be visibly seen whilst the fear and respect that the mob demand can be seen when they walk through the neighbourhood.
What makes Goodfellas so good, though, is that Scorsese has Liotta and Bracco narrate throughout the film from their character’s perspective, thus demonstrating how gangster life was like for both of them.
Casino
Arguably one of his most underrated films, Casino was released in 1995 and features some of the same cast that made Goodfellas a success, with De Niro and Pesci both involved. They were joined by Sharon Stone, Don Rickles, Kevin Pollack and James Woods in this film that was a three-hour crime epic that was situated in Las Vegas back in the 1970s – which is very different to today’s iconic casino capital.
Indeed, this period of time saw that Las Vegas was extremely dangerous and gambling was deemed rather sinful, as De Niro played the lead character (Sam “Ace” Rothstein) who ran the casinos and wielded all the power. Of course, these days, players will be asking if it is it safe to play online casino games now, although many will still like to experience a physical casino when they can.
Casino only received a total of three nominations when it was up for awards, although it did win one Golden Globe Award for Stone’s performance as Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. Scorsese was nominated for Best Director but did not win.
Raging Bull
Raging Bull managed to win a total of five awards, thus highlighting why it is argued to be one of the best films that he had ever created. Again, it features De Niro and Pesci, whilst Cathy Moriarty, Nicholas Colasanto, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Johnny Barnes as they based the movie on the book by Jake LaMotta, Joseph Carter and Peter Savage.
Following the story of the famed boxer (LaMotta), it documents the problems that he had with himself in regards to his self-destructive nature and obsessive rages, sexual jealousies and animalistic appetite that had destroyed his relationship with his family.
Raging Bull, which came out in 1980, earned Scorsese his first Oscar nomination as Best Director, although he did not win that award.