Martin Scorsese has impressed the world with his wide range of projects that contributed to the cinematic world. With a prolific career spanning several decades, his filmography is known for crafting complex characters. In addition to adding meticulous details, he often adds crime, violence, and the human condition in themes that further enhance his projects.
All these factors eventually summed him up earning him a place among the greatest directors in film history. With passionate advocacy for preserving film history, he continues to gain widespread acclaim for creating thought-provoking cinema that left audiences spellbound. Given that he is one of the influential directors who can bring the best out of a project making it gritty, he talked about turning down to direct Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II. Initially, the latter had Scorsese in mind to direct the crime classic but he had other thoughts.
Martin Scorsese Didn’t Believe to Be the One to Direct The Godfather Part II
Francis Ford Coppola gained worldwide acclaim for directing several impressive projects including The Godfather series. While the former had his eyes set on letting Martin Scorsese helm the second installment of the popular crime series, he gave an insight into why he declined the offer.
In an interview with Deadline, the latter shared that he didn’t consider himself to be the right one for the iconic project.
“He [Coppola] told me, and, honestly, I don’t think I could have made a film on that level at that time in my life, and who I was at that time. To make a film as elegant and masterful and as historically important as Godfather II, I don’t think… Now, I would’ve made something interesting, but his maturity was already there. I still had this kind of edgy thing, the wild kid running around.”
By the time The Godfather Part II was in the works, The Departed director was still new in the film business. While his directorial style matches with what the 1974 movie wanted, he hadn’t explored his potential which seemingly would have been the reason why he didn’t think he would have created the masterpiece just like what Coppola did in the movie.
Martin Scorsese Reflected on Why Was He Different from Francis Ford Coppola?
The Aviator director further reflected on how Coppola was way ahead of him in the filmmaking business at the time. It was completely true since The Outsiders helmer was already making noise at the time meanwhile Scorsese was setting his foot in the business.
He continued in the same interview,
“I didn’t find myself that comfortable with depicting higher-level underworld figures. I was more street-level. There were higher-level guys in the street. I could do that. I did it in Goodfellas particularly. That’s where I grew up. What I saw around me wasn’t guys in a boardroom or sitting around a big table talking. That took another artistic level that Francis had at that point. He didn’t come from that world, the world that I came from. The story of Godfather II is more like Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. It’s wonderful art.”
When the movie was in development, Coppola approached Paramount with the suggestion of putting young Scorsese in the director’s chair but the studio didn’t want the latter to take on the project with the former ultimately directing the project. It eventually worked out for the best in the end as the gangster saga ended up becoming the best of Coppola’s projects. Meanwhile, the 80-year-old filmmaker gained acclaim at his own pace and gave numerous outstanding projects that set his legacy in the filmmaking world.
Source: Deadline
