The Directors: Martin Scorsese Quiz

Answer: Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro

Charlie (Harvey Keitel) works as a middle rank mobster for his uncle but is not always pleased with his assignments. He also is protective of his friend Johnnie (Robert De Niro) who is a loose cannon in the organization. This dissonance leads to a violent conclusion.

In a televised interview Scorsese denied that the film was autobiographical; however, he did admit that the screenplay that he co-authored was based on many of the incidents that he knew happened or were legends of the streets.

"Mean Streets" has a 96% freshness rating from Rotten Tomatoes web site.

Answer: Mel's Diner

Vic Tayback played Mel of Mel's Diner in both the film and the TV version that earned him two Golden Globe awards. Dianne Ladd came on board in the last year but played a different character. Alfred Lutter, who played the son on the screen was replaced. Linda Lavin was the TV Alice.

But it was Ellen Burstyn's film. She played Alice Hyatt, a widow with a son trying to build a new life. Broke, she takes a job as a waitress at Mel's Diner while sublimating her goal to become a singer. Burstyn won the Academy Award for Best Actress, while Ladd was nominated for Supporting Actress and Robert Getchell for screenplay.

The film scored an 88% from Rotten Tomatoes.

Answer: Taxi Driver

"Taxi Driver" centers on Travis Bickle, a lonely veteran (De Niro) and the taxi driver. He descends into insanity as he plots to assassinate a presidential candidate. Robert De Niro gets strong support from a supporting cast of Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks, and Leonard Harris. De Niro received an Academy Award nomination as did Jodie Foster for supporting actress in the controversial role as a 13 year old prostitute. Other nominations were for Best Picture and Musical Score.

On the basis of 90 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes found a 98% rating. If I had used the most famous quote from "Taxi Driver" - "You talkin' to me?" - that would have made it too easy.

Answer: The Band

Scorsese took the assignment seriously not stopping at merely filming the concert but incorporating interviews and insights into the film. The most compelling reason for the breakup was that after 16 years on the road, they did not want to make it 20 or in other words "get off the tours". Band member Richard Manuel was injured in a boating accident and it was proposed that The Band become a 'studio only' band like the Beatles but that was rejected also.

Since some effort had been exerted to attract Bob Dylan, various other artists wanted to perform with The Band including Muddy Waters, Paul Butterfield, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, and the Staple Singers. Each gave solo performances.

The 5000 capacity audience filed in about 5:00 pm and each was served a Thanksgiving turkey dinner although the concert did not begin until 9:00 pm.

From reports the concert hall was filled with the smoke of marijuana and a white cloud of cocaine emitting from both the performers and the audience. Neil Young's performance had to be photoshopped to hide the distinctive white powder on his nose. In the heat of the excitement, Scorsese himself sniffed his way through the evening. Critics often rate "The Last Waltz" as the best concert film. Although it had limited release, Rotten Tomatoes gave it 98%.

Answer: Jake LaMotta

By several accounts (Scorsese's included), Robert De Niro saved Scorsese's life when he persuaded Scorsese to kick his cocaine addiction to make "Raging Bull". Convinced that he would never make another movie, he poured his energies into making this violent bio of boxing champion Jake LaMotta.

The film shows LaMotta "as destructive and obsessive rages, sexual jealousy, and animalistic appetite destroyed his relationship with his wife and family".

Although neither got credit for the screenplay, Scorsese and De Niro rewrote or ad libs many scenes. Joe Pesci had a breakthrough role as LaMotta's brother and manager. De Niro gained 60 pounds to distinguish the boxer from his later years. It was filmed in black and white as color fades and was more in keeping with the times. Although it got a slow start at the box office and some mixed reviews, it is now regarded as one of the finest films of our time. The American Film Institute ranked it fourth of the greatest films of all time.

It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Best Actor for De Niro and Best Film Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker. Rotten Tomatoes found a 95% freshness.

Answer: He enters a witness protection program.

Among the techniques Scorsese used in "Goodfellas" was improvisation and ad-libbing where Scorsese let the actors do whatever they wanted. He made transcripts, took the lines that he liked, and incorporated them into a revised script. The best example is Joe Pesci saying, "I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? I'm here to ... amuse you?" spoken in such a way that there might be violence at any moment.

Although it was snubbed at the Academy Awards with six nominations and only one win, Joe Pesci was Best Supporting Actor. Other awards, however, were bestowed by international film societies. In addition, Rotten Tomatoes rated it at 96%.

If you watch this film closely, you might remember a waiter/want-to-be hapless character called Spider that Pesci shoots and kills for no particular reason. The actor was Michael Imperioli who later starred in the television series "The Sopranos".

Answer: The Last Temptation of Christ

Martin Scorsese read Nikos Kazantzakis' novel "The Last Temptation of Christ" and waited a number of years to be able to direct it. He promised to adhere to a seven million dollar budget which he did. Here Christ is not depicted as a God-like figure but as a man with human emotions struggling with temptation, fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust. It thus brought opposition from many Christian groups.

Mother Angelica, founder of Eternal Word Television Network, described the film as "the most blasphemous ridicule of the Eucharist that's ever been perpetrated in this world" and "a holocaust movie that has the power to destroy souls eternally."

It was banned in Greece, Turkey, Chili, Argentina, Singapore and the Philippines.

Fine performances were given by Willem Dafoe as Christ, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, Harvey Keitel as Judas, and David Bowie as Pontius Pilate. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a modest 80%.

Answer: The Age of Innocence

Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) is engaged to marry May Welland (Winona Ryder). However, her cousin comes back from Europe bringing with her a rather shady reputation. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Ellen Olenska. Archer and Olenska begin an affair that is on and off for many years. May knows of the affair but confronts him only by talking around the subject. Newland and May have three children. After May's death, his son locates Ellen but Newland walks away not wanting, apparently, to rekindle the relationship.

Perhaps this is not the poorest film that Scorsese directed but by far the dullest. Re-watching this in preparation for this quiz submission, as I did for several of these films, I found my mind wandering and could not sustain a focus. However, it did receive five Oscar nominations winning only for costume design. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 83% and the reviews were quite mixed.

The three wrong answers were all Merchant Ivory productions.

Answer: Five Points

In spite of the Oscar snub, "Gangs of New York" was on the list of most of the prominent film societies either as a nominee or winner. Daniel Day-Lewis for lead actor or Scorsese as director were the most frequently noted.

The film is set in mid-century about 1840-1862. Gang law was the only law in many parts of the city. Private fire departments, for instance, were controlled by the gangs and fights between gangs broke out should two gangs be called to a single fire. Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) has returned to the dangerous Five Points area. His goal is to bring revenge on the murderer of his father - Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis).

Scorsese's pursuit of accuracy was elusive. Starting first there were no neighborhoods in New York that reflected how the city might have looked like in the 1860s. A mile long set was built just outside Rome, Italy that stood in for the Five Points.

A lot of study went into linguistics to capture accurate speech patterns. Actors read ballads and diaries of the time. They found an 1892 wax cylinder recording of Walt Whitman reciting four lines of a poem in which he pronounced the word "Earth" as "Uth", and the "a" of "an" nasal and flat, like "ayan".

Counting domestic and foreign box office, the costly film broke even. Reviews were mixed and had an aggregate of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Answer: The Aviator

"Melvin and Howard" (1980) was more admired by critics than audiences but did yield a Supporting Actress Oscar for Mary Steenburgen. But it was a fantasy with little about Howard Hughes.

Out of several books on Hughes, the 1993 non-fiction book "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life" by Charles Higham was chosen as it best depicted Hughes' obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The film traces Hughes' career from his business days, his contributions to aviation, his dominance of RCA film studios, his notable relationships, and his descent into reclusiveness and surrender to OCD.

One fascinating feature of the film is the supporting roles played by actors recreating some of the most charismatic and talented personalities of Hollywood such as Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, Jude Law as Errol Flynn, Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow, and Kelli Garner as Faith Domergue.

The film received 11 Oscar nominations and five wins for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Cate Blanchett.