The Cast in the context of Martin Scorsese's directorial style

Abstract

Full-length and short independent feature films directed by Martin Scorsese are considered as the research material. The object of the study is the main elements of Martin Scorsese's directorial style. Throughout his creative career, the director under study, without fear, operates with numerous artistic techniques that today form the directorial style – broadcasting Christian motifs, cruelty combined with the beauty of the criminal world, eyes as an element of the hero's soul, using a mirror in the context of reflecting the other world of the character, narration through dreams and fantasies, as well as an abundance of editing solutions. The main attention is paid to the cast in the director's filmography, which correlates with the subject of this study. In this article, the author analyzed 33 films of the director that fall under the conditions of the study. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was the works of domestic and foreign theorists and practitioners of cinematography, as well as film encyclopedias and film textbooks of the academic level. According to the results of the study, the author came to the conclusion that the director is committed to a permanent cast in his films. More than others, Martin Scorsese stars such actors as Robert De Niro, Catherine Scorsese, Charles Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio. The director puts himself at the top of this list. 430 actors took part in all the films studied, who appear in the director's filmography at least twice. In the films The Irishman (2019), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Goodfellas (1990), and Casino (1995) starred the largest number of recurring actors in the director's work. Also, in the course of our research, we found that the director in most of his films prefers to shoot not only himself, but also members of his family.