This year sees the release of two new films from a pair of auteurs who broke out in the 1970s, Brian De Palma‘s Passion and Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street. While one (unfairly maligned) film is currently in between a VOD and theatrical release, while the other still has a few months to go before debuting, today we’re featuring two extensive, excellent conversations with both helmers.
First up, we go back a decade to January 27th, 2003, when Scorsese gave a talk at Brown University, in between the release of Gangs of New York and The Aviator (with a hat tip to Larry Wright for discovering the recently uploaded video). A remarkably personal conversation, he opens about his upbringing and family life, as well as the effect films like La Strada had on him. He goes on to discuss tidbits about his parents being involved in his films, the production of Goodfellas and answers a great deal of questions about his then-latest work.
Then we jump ahead ten years for De Palma’s recent talk at Film Society at Lincoln Center, also running a lengthy 50 minutes. Discussing his Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams‘ erotic thriller, he says it was difficult to cast the latter role, since she is “completely nuts.” The excitable director also talks about why he chose Berlin as the setting, the film to digital switch and even discusses a “memorable” experience shooting Scarface with Al Pacino that caused a delay in production. Check out both conversations below in full.
Did you glean any insights from either of these discussions? What are your favorite films from both directors?