MARTIN SCORSESE’S OBSESSION
When Scorsese says that at some point he “becomes” the film that he is making, he is not describing alienation, as the author asserts, but rather its opposite--a communion in which the self merges with a higher realm, a kind of out-of-body experience traditionally associated with Catholic mystics who achieve union with God.
This makes Akira Kurosawa’s choice of Scorsese as Vincent van Gogh a particularly inspired one, since for both making art was an act of devotion as well as a spiritual experience.
And how sad a sign of our times that passionate commitment seems so incomprehensible that it should be confused with alienation.
JILL FINSTEN
West Hollywood
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