leonblackwood Review: Man, this 4 hour documentary really seemed to go on forever. It's full of footage from the early years in Italian cinema, but I don't think that I have ever watched an Italian movie. At first, I did find it quite interesting because it was good to see how far the world of cinema has progressed, but I lost interest after a while. I liked when Scorsese was talking about his family and how it was to grow up in America back in the early years, but once he starts to get into the various directors and actors that influenced him to make movies, I did drift off a couple of times. My main problem with the documentary was that I hadn't seen or heard of any of the movies that Scorsese was talking about, so I didn't have a clue why the movies were so important back in a day and age when I wasn't born yet. I can understand how the movies had changed his life, but it's a world that I really can't relate to. In all, it's a well put together documentary which gives a deep insight into a Italian cinema, but you have to have an interest in this genre to be able to find the whole 4 hour experience interesting. Average! Round-Up: Scorsese really hasn't lost his touch nowadays, and he is still pulling in huge audiences at the box office. This documentary really does show that he was a lover of movies at a really early age and it gives a complete different point of view about the world of cinema. With movies like the Taxi Driver "You Talking To Me", to films like Goodfellas and Casino, I doubt that were ever going to get a director that can mix deep drama with heavy violence so well. After watching were he got his influences from, it really doesn't seem like he would ever make movies the way that he does. Maybe thats because of his unique vision which your everyday person well never be able to create, write or direct, because he is coming from such a different angle which is deeply rooted inside him. As I director, I rate him highly, but as a documentary, it's just way too long. Budget: N/A Domestic Gross: $11,600I recommend this movie to people who are into there documentaries which show the many movies and actors which have influenced Martin Scorsese to make movies. 4/10

jzappa Intense and prolific filmmaker Martin Scorsese did not seem to be satisfied with projecting the influence he drew from Italian films from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s on his own films. So, he spends four solid hours explaining the details and expressions of at least thirty films, all condensed into about ten minutes each. He analyzes and discloses trivia about each of them and pours out all of his passion into this like water bore over his shoulders that he can't bear anymore.For awhile, I was wondering why he would spend so much time doing this. Why make a movie wherein most of the footage is taken from other movies? Why examine a condensed version of each film from beginning to end when we may want to see these movies ourselves? Well, after awhile, I realized the point of this. Scorsese had a very important reason why he wanted to make this epic documentary. It's because these films are what made him the filmmaker he is, not to mention the person he is, and their effects have not weakened throughout time. So, he wants to perpetuate their lives. He wants to interest younger generations, such as mine, in these films and their makers.And I'll tell you what. It works. I am now very interested in seeing a lot of these movies. I realize I have not seen nearly enough films by Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, or Vittorio De Sica. And I plan to, thanks to Scorsese's film.

Joe Stemme This is less a documentary than a visual diary of one man's selective view of Italian Cinema of the 50's & 60's. Of course, when that man is Martin Scorsese, it demands the attention of cineastes worldwide. In the introduction, one could assume that Scorsese will give a general view of the Italian films he saw as a child and as a young adult. But soon, he plunges into a hour plus mini-documentary of Roberto Rossellini. This is certainly understandable not only because Rossellini was a seminal Italian filmmaker, but because Scorsese in fact married into the family (via his ex Isabella). From there it's on to Visconti, De Sica, Fellini and Antonioni. And, that's about all. A few other filmmakers are touched upon briefly, but those five comprise the heart of the nearly 4 hour long film. Of course, rarely has a country given the world cinema a quintet as gifted as these five men. Still, it would have been illustrative if Scorsese had donated perhaps half and hour of the picture to a survey of the other Italian filmmakers of the era. These are mere quibbles, however. For no world class filmmaker (with the possible exception of Truffuat) has ever poured out so much emotion and depth of understanding for other directors as Scorsese has here. The portrayal of Rossellini in particular will be hard-pressed to ever be equaled - let alone surpassed. A demanding, yet essential film history.

Edward Carney I have heard that the organizers of the 2002 Minneapolis/St. Paul Int'l Film Festival worked mightily to bring us this film. If that is true, I'd like to thank them for their efforts. I came to this film happily, having enjoyed Scorsese's "Personal Journey Through American Movies". Although less wide-ranging than the previous film, this one is sure to confirm Scorsese's place among the people whom we'd most enjoy watching movies with.This film is, in some ways, much more personal. It opens with Scorsese reminiscing about his upbringing in the province of Sicily that his part of lower Manhattan became after the wave of Italian immigrants in the early part of the 20th Century. He talks about his family and his neighborhood. Each brownstone on Elizabeth St. became an outpost of a different Sicilian town. Scorsese jokes that it took many years before people from different buildings would intermarry. One of the highlights of this section is home movie footage shot by one of Scorsese's uncles. It is very poignant and moving.He goes on to describe how he watched Italian films on a small B&W television. Badly dubbed and edited as they were, their power came through to the young boy. Scorsese uses this nostalgic opening to lead in to his history of post-war (mostly) Italian film and an analysis of its techniques and its importance. There is some coverage of prewar directors (including Alessandro Blasetti), but the film mostly covers the period from WWII to Fellini's 8½.Scorsese spends a great deal of time on many films. His discussions are not geared to make pretentious insights, although insights abound; rather, it seems to be his intent to give us as much information as possible. He tells us about the characters, the plot, the techniques and lets us see for ourselves with extensive clips. He wants to convince us to see these films. If that was his intent, he is largely successful. I know I'll never willingly pass up another opportunity to see an Italian film.Scorsese, it is reported, is working on another film to bring his idiosyncratic survey (I mean that in a nice way!) up to the present. I hope that is true. If you have a chance to see this film, make every effort to do so. It will be 4 hours well spent.