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Growing up in the 1950's streets of Little Italy, New York, a young Martin Scorsese was drawn to the world of cinema. He studied at the NYU film school where he met his life long calibrators - actor Harvey Keitel and film editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Who's that knocking at my door 1967 starring Keitel as a Catholic teenager in New York was his first film and the one that got him noticed by film industry peers such as Coppola, Spielberg and De Palma. Scorsese learnt how to make a low budget film from the teachings of the acclaimed producer Roger Corman. His breakthrough film Mean Streets 1973 established him internationally, a film based in his own neighbourhood of Little Italy, featuring a wealth of violence, machismo and rock n roll music. His follow up film took a surprising turn with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 1974, the star Ellen Burstyn won an oscar for her performance. Taxi Driver 1976 about a taxi driving psychopath played by Robert De Niro obsessed with a teenage prositute Jodie Foster, set in the decaying urban streets of New York. Scorcese won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival for this iconic film. New York, New York starring Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli was his first and only major flop, he felt stung but managed a great come back with Raging Bull 1980. A black and white biopic about a world champion, washed up boxer by the name of Jake La Motta, a film that shocked audiences with its grim themes of domestic abuse, violence and decline. The well regarded The King of Comedy 1982 and The Colour of Money 1986 followed. Paul Newman revisiting the role won an Oscar for his portrayal of pool shark Fast Eddie. Goodfellas 1990 a Scorcese classic gangster mob movie following the character Henry Hill and his world of crime, violence, sex and cooking. Casino 1995, another violent picture of the mob and gambling rackets in Las Vegas with two mesmerising performances from Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone. Scorsese was heavily influenced by old Hollywood cinema and European cinema, he managed to mix the influences from both into his films. A great example of this is Gangs of New York 2002, starring his new muse Leonardo DiCaprio, he was energised by this new collaboration and went onto make the biopic of Howard Hughes The Aviator 2004 and The Departed 2006 where he finally won an Oscar for best director. A clip of Ray Winstone is shown discussing his experience of working with Scorcese on set. Shutter Island 2010, a horror B-Movie homage starring Dicaprio again is discussed next. Hugo 2011 a children's adventure/fantasy film starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Emily Mortimer follows (with clips of them discussing their experiences). Scorsese directed the pilot for the multi award winning Boardwalk Empire about Atlantic City gangsters. A music documentary titled The Last Waltz 1978 is then mentioned and lastly his film The Wolf of Wall Street 2013 about the excesses of hedge fund city boys leading up to the financial crash. In his 70's he's still as passionate and energetic as ever and still talking to the audience, a brave and brilliant film maker.

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