Martin Scorsese finally comments on Todd Phillips’ Joker film

Martin Scorsese is Hollywood royalty. The man has directed some of the most well regarded and important films in the history of cinema. With the release of 2019's THE IRISHMAN, Scorsese once again proved that he's a force to be reckoned with. The gangster epic starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino is sure to garner a ton of Oscar nominations very shortly. It seems a foregone conclusion that one of those nominations will be for Martin Scorsese himself in the director category.

The seventy-seven year old director has also made no secret of his distaste for comicbook films. Scorsese kicked off a maelstrom of debate earlier this year when he likened Marvel movies to amusement parks. Yet despite his opinions regarding Marvel movies and the like, Scorsese almost produced one of the more significant comicbook films of 2019 – JOKER. Due to time constraints Martin Scorsese had to bow out leaving the producing duties to director Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff. JOKER did just fine without Scorsese's involvement, earning over a $1 billion at the box office and garnering a ton of critical acclaim including the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion award.

There's no question that Scorsese's works heavily influenced JOKER. Both TAXI DRIVER and THE KING OF COMEDY cast long shadows in Todd Phillips' JOKER. Although the film carries a certain Scorsese flair to it, the Academy Award winning director had yet to comment on the movie – until now. A frequent staple in the New York Times, Martin Scorsese once again recently talked to the prominent paper about everything from mortality to women in film. When asked if he'd seen JOKER, Scorsese's response was certainly candid. “I saw clips of it. I know it. So it’s like, why do I need to? I get it. It’s fine.”

Ouch.

Look I respect the Hell out of Scorsese. The man is a legend and helped redefine cinema. However, his comments are incredibly dismissive in my opinion. It almost sounds like he's buying into the narrative that Phillips was aping Scorsese with JOKER. While the influences are certainly there, JOKER is very much its own thing. To say you know something from a few clips comes off extremely arrogant.

Ironically, both Phillips and Scorsese may be going head to head come Oscar night. Both films are poised for numerous Oscar nominations. Could both Phillips and Scorsese be nominated for director? Are Scorsese's comments the opening salvo to a shade war? Guess we will see.

JOKER is currently available for digital download and hits DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K January 7.