Martin Scorsese Doesn’t Watch New Movies Anymore, Here’s Why

Martin Scorsese is regarded as one of the greatest cinephiles in the world. His knowledge of all things movies is unparalleled, and when he starts to talk about any branch of the medium everyone else is immediately quiet and simply listens.

Except when it comes to new movies that is. That’s because Martin Scorsese has admitted that he has hardly watched any new movies over the last three years, because he believes that there’s been an “over saturation.” Martin Scorsese made this admission during the press conference for his upcoming film Silence, which was attended by Hey U Guys.

Martin Scorsese explained,

“There’s over saturation. Particularly in our world as it is now and nothing really does have a meaning. Images for example are everywhere. Cinema used to be in a building and even on television, you’d see a film or whatever. I must say a lot of the films that I’m aware of…and I don’t see that many new ones over the past two or three years, I stopped because the images don’t mean anything.”

Martin Scorsese, who throughout his career has directed some of the greatest films ever committed to celluloid in the shape of Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, insisted that the over-saturation of images, and the way that words are now repeatedly twisted, means that it’s become harder and harder for a film to resonate. Martin Scorsese continued,

“We’re just completely saturated with images that don’t mean anything. Words certainly don’t mean anything anymore, they’re twisted and turned. So where’s the meaning? Where’s the truth? So we have to strip away everything. It goes back to that question I had in Mean Streets, how do you live a good life? A life which is good, meaning compassion, and respect for others, in a world like today or in a world where I grew up, quite honestly.”

Over the last decade the explosion of technology means that films can be shot and watched on phones, tablets, and laptops, and people are now inundated with brand new images and content 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This means that it has become harder for films to make an impact, especially since television shows, web series, and podcasts are now so instantly accessible, too. However, on the flip side of this argument, it has never been easier for burgeoning young writers and filmmakers to make their own content and get it out to the public.

Martin Scorsese’s return to cinema very much feels like a throwback film, in not just its style and pace, but its content, too. Silence revolves around the two Jesuit Christian priests Sebastian Rodrigues and Francisco Garrpe, played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, respectively, that travel to Japan in the 17th Century in search of their mentor Father Cristovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who committed apostasy after being tortured.

Once in Japan, though, the two young priests have to immediately go into hiding as Japanese authorities are looking to eradicate Roman Catholics from the country, but there’s still a small contingency of the Church that are intent on helping the duo in their quest.

Silence has been a Martin Scorsese passion project for close to 30 years now, with the legendary director freely admitting that he has been developing the script and his ideas for it since 1990. However, the film has been in a legal dispute over its rights for several years, while Martin Scorsese himself has also decided to focus on different projects at points, too. But we’ll finally get to see what he’s produced with Silence when it’s released next week on December 23.

[Featured Image by HBO]