Preserving the magic

Martin Scorsese's rich legacy not only includes a compelling oeuvre but also the numerous films he has preserved and restored for future generations to cherish

Before applauding Martin Scorsese for his dazzling array of cinematic masterpieces, punctuated with captivating storytelling, stellar performances, and mind-bending music, the ardent film buff would do well to doff her hat to the auteur for being a passionate champion in film preservation.

Over the years, Mr Scorsese, 81, has assiduously preserved world cinema’s heritage like a precious family treasure. Last month, he teamed up with dear friend George Lucas (who created the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises) to restore Ghatashraddha, a seminal film on social dogmas and religious orthodoxy helmed by the doyen of Kannada cinema, Girish Kasaravalli.

The timeless classic that intrigued audiences and critics in equal measure upon its release in 1977 has quietly faded away in the sands of time. Now, Messrs Scorsese and Lucas and the Film Heritage Foundation are working to restore the film to its old, pristine grandeur.

In 2022, the director of cinematic gems like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, restored noted Malayalam director G Aravindan’s 1979 film Kummatty, hailing it as a tour de force in filmmaking.  Mr Scorsese’s film restoration crusade began in the 1980s after he attended the screening of Billy Wilder’s runaway hit The Seven Year Itch, which featured the ravishing Marilyn Monroe. In his essay titled,  Film Preservation: A Dire Need, Mr Scorsese recounted the ordeal of sitting through the screening of the 1955 film.

 “The lights went down, the screening began, and we were shocked by what we saw. The colour had faded so dramatically that it was almost impossible to see the film. But beyond the fact that the colour was lost, I realised that the performances were lost as well, and the characters along with them. They walked across the screen like phantoms. This meant that the entire narrative was lost. In essence, the film itself was lost,” he wrote. That night, Mr Scorsese decided something had to be done.

 In 1990, Mr Scorsese founded The Film Foundation, which raised funds and created awareness about film preservation. To date, it has restored over 900 films across the globe.

 When Mr Scorsese was asked why films needed to be preserved, he famously remarked: “Why preserve? Because we cannot know where we are going unless we know where we have been. We cannot understand the future of the present unless we have some sort of grappling of the past. The moment has come when we have to preserve every last moving image as reverently and respectfully as the oldest book in the Library of Congress.”

Growing up in the 1950s in Little Italy, a bustling working-class neighbourhood in New York’s Manhattan borough, Mr Scorsese was endearingly referred to as “Marty” by family and friends.  As a child, he was constantly sick with asthma, which meant he rarely participated in games or outdoor activities.

With only an inhaler for company, young Marty would often take refuge in the magical world of films to kill loneliness. In turn, films would become a necessity, which soon translated into passion.

It’s this passion that has gifted film lovers 26 feature films, 17 documentaries and an anthology film over the past 57 years. His latest feature, Killers of the Flower Moon, deftly subverts the Western genre to showcase how racism and greed percolated into American society in the 1920s. Killers of the Flower Moon has received 10 nominations at this year’s Oscars, and also includes a record 10th Best Director nomination for Mr Scorsese.

The Oscars and Mr Scorsese share an awkward relationship. After several close misses, it seemed as though Mr Scorsese would join the illustrious list of the perennial also-ran directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman.  He finally broke the streak in 2007 when the Academy awarded him the golden statuette for his least deserving film: The Departed.

On March 10, all eyes will once again be on Mr Scorsese when the 96th Academy Awards will be presented at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Mr Scorsese’s legacy, however, goes beyond the realm of how many Oscars he wins or misses.He is arguably one of the greatest filmmakers who redefined cinema’s grammar.

A consummate artist with an unwavering passion for his craft, Mr Scorsese’s rich legacy not only includes a compelling oeuvre, but also the numerous films he has preserved and restored for future generations to cherish.