Martin Scorsese on why he’s stopped watching new films

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

The first trailer for Martin Scorsese's SILENCE hit last month and brought with it a wealth of positive responses in regards to the story c'sontent, visuals and acting. To be fair, Scorsese is known for really "bringing it" in those categories, proving to be one of the most proficient filmmakers of this day and age. Sadly, it seems that the director himself doesn't think too highly of most films that come out these days. In speaking at a SILENCE press conference in New York, he had the following to say about the state of today's cinema:

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.

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.

So what do you think? Is Scorsese the old man yelling at the cloud? He does make a point that there is more content that's readily available, but I don't think it's fair to judge all of it just because the game has changed. After all, if you're not seeing great movies, you may not be looking in the right place.

SILENCE opens in limited theaters on December 23rd, with a wide release on January 6th.