Photo by Kerry Hayes - © 2017 - Twentieth Century Fox
In an essay recently published by U.K. publication the Critic write Sean Egan, calling Scorsese an “Uneven Talent,” Egan goes on to say, “New Scorsese films are routinely an hour too long…his directorial talent has never been as great as occasional masterpieces like “Goodfellas” tricked us into believing it was.” Even he recalls Scorsese’s “Mean Streets,” “not just overly episodic but in places actively badly directed.”
The article’s assertions caught the eye of another Oscar-winning director like Guillermo del Toro, who offered his reactions on Twitter this morning.
“I very, very seldom post anything contradictory here,” began del Toro, “ said mild -manner director, “The amount of misconceptions, sloppy inaccuracies and hostile adjectives not backed by an actual rationale is offensive, cruel and ill-intentioned. This article baited them traffic, but at what cost?
To be clear: If God offered to shorten my life to lengthen Scorsese’s- I’d take the deal.”
del Toro continued, “This man understands Cinema. Defends Cinema. Embodies Cinema. He has always fought for the art of it and against the industry of it. He has never been tamed and has a firm place in history.” He goes on to say “film language discussions, history lessons and research may be needed” by the writer, and goes on to explain why it gets it wrong: “Most of the article is akin to faulting Picasso for ‘Not getting perspective right’ or Gaugin for being ‘garish’.
If you assail these cornerstones, you should lay it out- you disassemble the work and build your position- not just hand an opinion with ‘slamming’ adjectives. When I read pieces like this one. Aimed at one of the most benign forces and one of the wisest, I do feel the tremors of an impending culture collapse – and I do wonder: “To what end?” …and find myself at a loss.
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Till this day, Scorsese has won one Oscar, been nominated for thirteen more, and has multiple projects on the way including the $200 million “Killers of the Flower Moon” film due from Apple Studios next year. “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” arrives on the streamer on December 9th.