Martin Scorsese is one of my favorite directors of all-time. It’s not because he’s a fellow Italian American, but of course that doesn’t hurt. I have always loved his films. I grew up near the same place he did (I was raised in New Jersey and he was in NYC). Here’s a checklist of all his films: https://trello.com/c/EVbtSFE2/16-martin-scorsese-films
Though he’s known for masterpieces such as “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas”, one of my favorite films he made was a little documentary called “Italian American” from 1974 starring his mom and dad. Most fans of his films will recognize them from many cameos, especially his mom who had a classic scene with Joe Pesce about the knife he needed to borrow for a “Deer”.
Anyway, I love this little film because it reminds me so much of my mom and old neighborhood. I love how he captures her making her sauce and sharing stories about how she learned to cook from her mom and her mother-in-law in order to make her husband happy.
Scorsese had already started making a name for himself with films like “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Mean Streets” which was released a year before this documentary. “Taxi Driver” and many other classic films were just around the corner for the maestro.
Here’s the full documentary.
