Martin Scorsese is among the best Hollywood directors as The Wolf of Wall Street director has created a legacy with his signature trait of filmmaking, most of which, by default, can be described with one word— ‘splendid.’ However, the director had his own struggle in the industry.
Scorsese’s cinematic aesthetics were not always passed by the producers. On many occasions, the director had to wrestle with the producers to serve his cinematic vision. Of course, a good director can see a movie even before scripting but the creative differences with the producers may hinder a lot of what the director originally envisioned.
Martin Scorsese’s Wrestle With Harvey Weinstein
Martin Scorsese’s cinematic prowess as a director has been remarkably astonishing. The Oscar-winning director, however, had a similar struggle to most directors wanting to preserve their cinematic vision at all costs. His 2002 Gangs of New York— Scorsese’s long-time passion project starring A-lister acting giant Leonardo DiCaprio prompted the director to have an argument with the movie’s producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was opposed to Scorsese’s length and the budget of the film.
“I realized that I couldn’t work if I had to make films that way ever again. If that was the only way that I was able to be allowed to make films, then I’d have to stop. Because the results weren’t satisfying. It was at times extremely difficult, and I wouldn’t survive it. I’d be dead. And so I decided it was over, really,” Scorsese told GQ.
Scorsese collaborated with DiCaprio more than once and in all these films, the director had to raise his voice to preserve the cinematic intellect over the producers’ business models. Sometimes it was Harvey Weinstein or at another time it was Warner Brothers.
Harvey Weinstein, Warner Brothers and Martin Scorsese— Another Battle
Following the success of his acclaimed, Gangs of New York starring Daniel Day-Lewis and DiCaprio, Scorsese once again collaborated with The Revenant star in his 2004 epic biographical drama The Aviator. DiCaprio-Scorsese chemistry is known to Hollywood and the duo has produced some excellent works in their career collaborating with each other, “the obsession of it is something that I could really understand,” Scorsese told GQ. This time, Warner Brothers joined Weinstein’s Miramax to produce the movie. “And I was against that; there was a meeting, and I was forced into that position,” Scorsese said.
“I’d already been, uh, made pregnant, as they said. And there’s no way you’re getting out of it. But the shoot went well, the editing went well until the last couple of weeks of editing. And they came in and did some things that I felt were extremely mean.”
Warner Bros. and Miramax, per Scorsese, enforced the budget cut of the movie which was, indeed, the most frustrating thing for a director. The director was, however, far from compromising and finished the movie with an additional $500,000 from his own pocket. Of course, Scorsese had got into another creative difference battle with Warner Bros. while making his 2006 crime drama The Departed.
Source: GQ.
