It’s a fantastic day for film fans because the legendary American director Martin Scorsese has just joined Letterboxd – the nine million people strong online movie club where film enthusiasts around the world go to chew the fat about what they’ve been watching, from all-time favourites to new views.
So far, Scorsese has listed 69 films on his ‘watched’ list, with 59 of these entries specified as ‘companion’ films – picks that the 80-year-old director suggests watching alongside his own now-classic films.
His pairings include Andrzej Wajda’s Ashes and Diamonds (1958) with The Departed (2006), Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (1963) paired up with The Age of Innocence (1993), and Abraham Polonsky’s Force of Evil (1948) with Raging Bull (1980).
“Over the years, I’ve been asked to pair my own pictures with older films by other people that have inspired them,” wrote Scorsese on the site.
“The request has come from film festivals, which present the pairings as a program. The terms “inspiration” and “influence” aren’t completely accurate. I think of them as companion films. Sometimes the relationship is based on inspiration. Sometimes it’s the relationships between the characters. Sometimes it’s the spirit of the picture. Sometimes it’s far more mysterious than that.”
Here we pick our favourite watches from Scorsese’s list.
Ocean’s 11 (1960)
Although George Clooney and Brad Pitt made excellently cool thieves in the Ocean’s series’ Noughties reboot, the original gang arguably did it better. Debonair, roguish, and utterly believable, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop played members of an old military unit who turn their hand to robbing casinos in Las Vegas. Scorsese pairs the film with his 1990 Oscar-winner GoodFellas.
Jules and Jim (1962)
This French new wave romance from François Truffaut could probably win a prize for the sheer number of times it is listed on ‘best’ films lists. An utter classic of the genre, the film follows the friendship between Jules, a reserved writer, and his more gregarious friend, Jim, as they engage in a Bohemian life in France in the early 20th century and find themselves caught in a love triangle. Scorsese pairs the film with GoodFellas.
Eva (1962)
This black and white Italian-French film from Joseph Losey stars Jeanne Moreau as Eva, an exceptionally beautiful woman who becomes the object of Welsh writer Tyvian Jones’ desires. The two engage in a heady affair, but Jones, who is married, becomes dangerously obsessed with Eva, with devastating effects. Scorsese pairs the film with Life Lessons, the first story from his 1989 anthology film.
The Leopard (1963)
On its 60th anniversary, Luchino Visconti’s Palme d'Or winning film is still widely heralded as one of cinema’s great epics. Set in 19th century Italy during the country’s troubled political period of unification, Burt Lancaster (The Rainmaker) and Alain Delon (La Piscine) star as members of an aristocratic Sicilian family learning to adapt as the world they’ve been brought up in changes forever. Scorsese pairs the film with his 1993 adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel, The Age of Innocence.
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Fred Zinnemann’s Oscar-nominated 1973 film is still the best adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel. Starring Edward Fox (Emilia and Freddie’s father) as The Jackal – the professional killer hired to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle – the film hits all the right notes, full of suspense, yet unrushed and elegant. Scorsese pairs the film with his 2019 gangster film, The Irishman.
The Horse Thief (1984)
It takes a lot of concentration to watch Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s 88-minute epic about Norbu (Rigzin Tseshang), a man who becomes a horse thief in Tibet in order to look after his family. The film contains next to no dialogue; in place of that, it’s crammed with long art house-style scenes of the horse thief traveling through awesome Tibetan landscapes. But put away your phone, submit to Tian’s mastery and it could become a forever favourite. Scorsese pairs it with his 1997 autobiographical film about the 14th Dalai Lama, who comes from Tibet.
Lourdes (2009)
This moving film’s clever title (Lourdes is a town in France, but the word also means heavy in French) suggests a difficult watch, but Jessica Hausner approaches the subject matter – a wheelchair-using woman with MS who goes on a Christian pilgrimage – with intelligence and elegance. The result is an uplifting, thought-provoking,darkly comic winner of a film. Scorsese pairs the film with his 2016 historical drama, Silence.
