Rebecca Miller, the filmmaker behind "Mr. Scorsese", is, by her very nature, almost like a portal to the most unexpected stories and contacts in the art world. His father, playwright Arthur Miller, author of the classic "Death of a Salesman", met and fell in love with his mother, Austrian photographer Inge Morath, while he was married to Marilyn Monroe.
And she is the wife of English actor Daniel Day-Lewis, winner of three Oscars, and mother of young filmmaker Ronan Day-Lewis, who directed his father in the feature film "Anemone", a film that had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival in September and is due to arrive in Brazil next month.
But none of these names seem to torment the filmmaker, who takes her life and career lightly, without trying to escape these family connections or take advantage of them. Miller has a very interesting cinematographic work, with delightful films such as "Maggie's Plan", with Greta Gerwig and "The Private Life of Pippa Lee", with Robin Wright, Winona Ryder and Blake Lively.
The biographical series "Mr. Scorsese", in five episodes of about an hour each, is like a moving portrait, filled with interviews, both from Scorsese himself and from his editor of all the films since 1966, Thelma Schoonmaker. Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodie Foster and even the director's husband (Day-Lewis) give interviews. Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Spike Lee and Paul Schrader also talk about their friend.
But what makes this a special and ultra-attractive program, worthy of five precious hours in the middle of the Show, is precisely Rebecca's curious, warm and intimate look at her character. This is not a film class or an encyclopedic entry on Scorsese, but rather a collage of interviews with the family, archive images and interviews given with time and relaxation — two objects of desire for reporters in the area with film people, which are increasingly rare.
Miller shuffles Scorsese's life and art in such a way that, at a certain point, you begin to not distinguish where one begins and the other ends. The filmmaker who left behind his robes to make some of Hollywood's most violent films also reflected in cinema the chaos of the asthmatic boy's life, who grew up in a community of Italian immigrants in New York.
Scorsese speaks with absolute honesty about the years he wallowed in drugs, his various marriages, his obsession with every detail of each film, which ended up alienating everyone around him for many decades. Nowadays, there is a sweetness to him, the bold and intense filmmaker has given way to a fun-loving gentleman, who looks back with humor and some regrets too.
Miller's editing borrows his character's style, and jumps from themes to eras and moods like Scorsese's films — with quick cuts, a marked rhythm and a lot of energy.
There are everything from excerpts from his home movies to storyboards of great hits, as well as a lot of the Rolling Stones, an English band that was once the subject of a documentary made by the filmmaker, "Shine a Light", from 2008.
The five hours fly by. It could have been twice as long, it's so good.
Mr. Scorsese Idem, USA, 2025. Dir.: Rebecca Miller. 285 min.16th, at 3pm (Cinesesc)Film is available on Apple TV+ streaming from Friday (17)
Angela: On the Wings of Imagination Angela, USA, 1995. Dir.: Rebecca Miller. 101 min.25th, at 7:50 pm (Cinesesc); and 30, at 2:45 pm (iMS Paulista)After the session at Cinesesc, Rebecca Miller participates in a chat facilitated by the journalist Teté
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