As it turns out, Martin Scorsese may have been pulling from some of his own interests when making his famously dark, gritty and thoroughly entertaining films. At least, if he himself is to be believed.
The acclaimed director, 82, is the subject of the brand new Apple TV+ five-part docuseries Mr. Scorsese, with a newly released first look at the project showing off not only his sense of humor, but also his fierce dedication to his work.
In the first teaser, Martin and his close friend and fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg recall the former being told by Columbia Pictures that 1976's Taxi Driver, his breakout project that cemented his style as an auteur, might have been too bloody and gritty for their taste.
But to Martin, any cuts to the project would not fly, take a look at his hysterical and totally on-brand response in the first look below…
Steven, 78, explained that his friend was upset about Columbia wanting to cut down some of the film's grislier and, notably, bloodier scenes, such as Robert De Niro's iconic finger gun moment, when he mimes shooting himself with his blood-soaked hand.
"Marty was very upset," the Jaws director said. "I get a call at the office, and he said, 'Steve, Steve, this is Marty. Can you come over to the house?'"
It then cuts back to the Goodfellas director, who is questioned by the interviewer about whether he actually got a gun to confront them. While he clarifies he didn't actually get one, he did think about it.
"I don't know. I was angry. I said I was going to threaten them… I'll maybe just shoot or something. I had no idea," he remembered. "I mean, I was just threatening."
"What I wanted to do, and not with a gun, I would go in, find out where the rough cut is, and break the windows and take it away. They were going to destroy the film anyway, you know. So let me destroy it. I'll destroy it. But before destroying it, I'm going to steal it."
Eventually, while laughing through the story, Martin revealed that after some chiding from Steven, he decided he'd just placate the studio by altering the scene itself, making it more "tabloid-like," toning the color down, making it "grainy" so as to be more explicitly like an artistic choice rather than a grisly and violent picture.
"It saved the movie because he didn't have to cut any of the violence," Steven continued. "He just had to take the color red down to a kind of brown."
Mr. Scorsese, directed by Rebecca Miller, will be available on the platform come October 17, and will feature a look at the director's childhood, early days at New York University, his break into the mainstream, and his continued success as one of the leaders of the New Hollywood era of filmmaking.
The other stars appearing in the documentary via interviews include Robert, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, Thelma Schoonmaker, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, Jay Cocks and Rodrigo Prieto, along with his children, wife Helen Morris, and close childhood friends.