For as long as I can remember I loved going to the movies. This was before there were videos, DVDs, premium cable channels and movies on demand. A number of actors I remembered well while growing up have since become Oscar-winning directors. Another is a full-fledged film director who participated as a film editor in a monumental music festival. His career has since become legendary.
The directors in question are none other than Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood. Living on a military base in Japan, I spent a lot of time watching movies at the base theater. I vividly remember seeing some films with Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood in those days. The music documentary “Woodstock” featured Martin Scorsese’s fine editing skills with its multiple screens and crowd shots. Here is a further look at my favorite films they have directed and how they affected me.
Martin Scorsese
“Taxi Driver” is the ultimate Scorsese film. I remember when I first saw it I was taken aback with the character played by Jodie Foster. She presented a world not delved into in American films then: child prostitution. I loved how Scorsese branched into another genre with his documentary concert “The Last Waltz.”
“The King of Comedy” may be an obscure film, though it is my favorite. Robert DeNiro plays a wannabe comic who is a fan of a big star. He and another overzealous fan kidnap this star and then become infamous celebrities. Sound familiar with today’s celebrity?
“Casino” opens the world on how Vegas is all about taking your money. Sharon Stone is brilliant in the film. “The Departed” landed Scorsese his well-deserved and overdue Oscar. Once again he’s back to music documentaries with his recent “George Harrison: Living in the Material World.”
Robert Redford
While Scorsese focuses on the gritty characters, Redford deals more introspectively with his directing style. “Ordinary People” is about an accidental death leading to survivor’s guilt which ultimately leads to an attempted suicide. By far my favorite Redford-directed film is none other than “Quiz Show.”
If you want to know the behind-the-scenes of today’s game shows and reality TV look no further than this film about a real-life quiz show scandal. Redford tackles American history in “The Conspirator” about the trial of several men and one woman accused of aiding and abetting John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of President Lincoln.
Clint Eastwood
Eastwood incorporates a lot of his loves and interests into his directing. “Play Misty for Me” is the original version of “Fatal Attraction.” The former film is shot in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where my sister used to live nearby. One of his obscure films, “Firefox,” features my brother’s Navy Cruiser that was used as a Russian ship instead in the film. Unfortunately he never got to meet Eastwood. Eastwood is an ardent fan of bebop jazz music. His tribute film about jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker titled appropriately “Bird” is superb with an outstanding cast.
SOURCES:
Martin Scorsese, Movies.Yahoo.com
Robert Redford, Movies.Yahoo.com
Clint Eastwood, Movies.Yahoo.com