What was American cinema like before Martin Scorsese came along? It's a tough world to imagine. In dozens of films - including classics like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Departed and more - Scorsese has raised more bars and pushed more envelopes than most people working in movies today. Having spent nearly half a century behind the camera, Scorsese has influenced countless filmmakers, and his unique vision has changed cinema forever.
People don't just love Martin Scorsese films. They love Martin Scorsese. With his bushy eyebrows, trademark glasses, compact frame (he's 5'3) and mile-a-minute Little Italy-inflected speech, Scorsese is an iconic Hollywood figure. His devotion to his craft has often come at the expense of his personal life, and Scorsese has endured some serious lows alongside his career triumphs. But as Scorsese's films prove to us time and again, it's the complicated lives that are the most interesting.