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Re: Scorcese greatness?

I have found it difficult to place Scorcese in the pantheon of great film directors. He stength as a director lies in his ability, detractors would say "willingness," to portray, without reservation, without so much as a blink, the violent underbelly of modern american society. His great achievement has been to place the fringes, the last outposts, the dark, benighted corners of modern civilization in the glare of the spotlight, and to find humanity and spirit and pathos under the grimiest rocks. I think Taxi Driver is the quintessential Scorcese film. Raging Bull is in the same company. But the problem I have with Scorcese is that he seems to be something of a one-trick pony. Goodfellas is a fine film, with outstanding performances and a very solid script. But again, we seem stuck in a mire of underclass denizens and gratuitous violence. With Casino, he almost seems to be a cinematic Chubby Checker, telling us all to "twist again, like we did last summer."

Francis Ford Coppola, on the other hand, has a much greater range. Apocolyse Now, Bram Stoker's (sp?) Dracula, Peggy Sue, The Conversation, are all fine films far outside the confines of crime and violence. Scorcese, by comparison, has not succeeded well when he's abondoned the crime genre.

Compare Scorcese to the greatest American Film Director, Stanley Kubrick, and you'll see what I mean: The Killing, Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket, 2001, Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining -- all outstanding films of their kind, all exploring different subjects and settings.

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