1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 2: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This episode tells 4 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 2: the story of a long standing Hollywood myth, one that 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese eventually acknowledged in an interview with Stephen Spielberg 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,120 Speaker 2: in twenty fifteen. Now, Spielberg and director Brian de Palma 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 2: have both recounted this story on the record in other 8 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 2: places as well, Spielberg most notably in the excellent Peter 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 2: Biskin book Easy Riders in Raging Bulls. I of course 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 2: have no idea what specific words were spoken during the 11 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 2: faithful night in question. However, just as the directors in 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 2: this story who are the main characters in this story, 13 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 2: Steven Spielberg, Brian de Palma, John Millius, Paul Schrader, and 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese, just as they have done in the numerous 15 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 2: films they've directed depicting real life events, films like Schindler's List, 16 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 2: The Untouchables, Dillinger, Raging Bull and The Irishman, to name 17 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 2: a few, I followed their lead and relied not only 18 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 2: on research of the event in question, but also on 19 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 2: research are the characters in this story to inform the 20 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 2: dialogue here. 21 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: In Metal Job. 22 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 2: This is a story of one of the greatest movies 23 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 2: of all time, a movie that was fictional, with real 24 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 2: life murder coursing through the filmmaking. And this is a 25 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,559 Speaker 2: story about one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. 26 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 2: Actually it's a story about a couple of the greatest 27 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,559 Speaker 2: filmmakers of all time. And it's about life and death 28 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 2: and art and all the things that make us suckers 29 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 2: for great drama. It's a story about one night in particular, 30 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 2: one time in Hollywood in particular, and revenge. It's a 31 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 2: story about Martin Scorset in his film Taxi Driver, a 32 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 2: film whose composer died only hours after completing the movie's 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 2: intense score. Great music, Unlike that music. I played a 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 2: few at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 35 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 2: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Firing 36 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 2: Squad Audition MK two. I played you that loop because 37 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 2: I can't afford the rights to Fifty Ways to Leave 38 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 2: Your Lover by Paul Simon. And why would I play 39 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 2: you that specific slice of internal rhyme cheese? Could I 40 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 2: afford it because that was the number one song in 41 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 2: America on February eighth, nineteen seventy six, and that was 42 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 2: the day Taxi Driver hit theaters, marking the continuation of 43 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 2: one of the greatest careers in filmmaking. On this episode Life, Death, 44 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 2: Art Revenge, seventies Hollywood in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, I'm 45 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 2: Jake Brennan and this this disgrace Land. People think making 46 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 2: a movie is a lot like making anything else. 47 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: It's not. 48 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 2: It's not like making a record, it's not like writing 49 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 2: a book. 50 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: It's not even like. 51 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 2: Staging a play. It's infinitely more difficult than all of 52 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 2: those things. People who make records and write books and 53 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 2: stage plays, for the most part, cannot make movies. And 54 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 2: there's a reason they don't, because it's this savage endeavor 55 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 2: that will quite literally kill you and destroy your soul 56 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 2: if you're not careful and or lucky or both. Some 57 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 2: have compared making a movie to going to war. I've 58 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 2: never been to war, so I'm not gonna go that far. 59 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: But I think a better. 60 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 2: Analogy, though also imperfect, would be to say making a 61 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 2: movie is a lot like giving birth every day for 62 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 2: two years straight. I was there in the room for 63 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 2: the birth of both of my sons. I saw the 64 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 2: excruciating pain my wife went through as both of those 65 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 2: big headed Brennans passed through her birth canal. And before 66 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 2: you guys send me your hate mail, I ran this 67 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 2: analogy by my wife, who sanctioned in the pain of 68 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 2: birth is unimaginable to me, but I know that that 69 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 2: pain is concentrated. At the most we're talking twenty four hours, 70 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 2: but usually less. Imagine that pain over and over again 71 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 2: every single day for two years, and now we're getting 72 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 2: close the pain involved with making a movie. Every day 73 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 2: a new fight, a new hassle, a new raging fire 74 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 2: to put out, another existential artistic challenge, to navigate another 75 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 2: chip off your soul. I've made records, I've written and 76 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 2: published a book, and yes, I even tried getting a 77 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 2: big budget Hollywood movie made with an A list celebrity involved. 78 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,480 Speaker 2: And I can tell you trying to make a movie 79 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 2: is a brutal, soul sucking endeavor that is not for 80 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 2: the faint of heart. Hollywood is sodom disguised as paradise. 81 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: It's lot's wife bent. 82 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 2: Brutally over the back of a casting coach. It's pimps 83 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 2: bobbing through fresh chum for their ten percent. It's shameless ambition, 84 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 2: wafting like beastly pheromones on the back of the Santa Anas. Well, 85 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 2: once you make it over the moat, patrolled by an 86 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 2: army of lizard skinned assistance, and into the hallowed grounds 87 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 2: of the studio system, that's when quote all the animals 88 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 2: come out, the horrors, skunk pussies, queens, fairies, doper's, junkies, 89 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 2: sick venyl unquote. Hollywood is relentless. It never lets you 90 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 2: off the hook, no matter how successful you are, no 91 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 2: matter how psychotic you are. So listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. 92 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 2: Here is a man who would not take it anymore, 93 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 2: a man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, 94 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 2: the dogs, the filth, the shit. 95 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: Here is a man who stood up. 96 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese twitched in the cutting room. It had been 97 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 2: days since he'd slept insomnia, just like the lead character, 98 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 2: Travis Bickle, the revenge minded, lonesome cavey motoring Scorsese's first 99 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 2: studio film, Taxi Driver. Things have been easier on the 100 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 2: director's last film, Mean Streets. There was no studio, Thus 101 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 2: little oversight. Taxi Driver was a different East Columbia Pictures 102 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 2: ponied up nearly two million dollars. It might have been 103 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 2: the director's vision, but it was their money, and they 104 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 2: wanted to return on that money, and they weren't fucking around. 105 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 2: And that's why Scorsese couldn't sleep. He needed this final 106 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 2: scene of the film to be perfect. The normally kinetic, 107 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 2: fast talking East Coast director sat Stone still quietly observing. 108 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: The action on the projected picture. 109 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 2: A young Robert de Niro mohawked and shaved for battle, 110 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 2: Creeping through the crime and grime of seventies New York 111 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 2: City into the climactic scene as the taxi driver character, 112 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 2: Travis Bickle. Travis walked with purpose from the taxi cab 113 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 2: to the front stoop. That purpose had been missing from 114 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 2: his gait in the earlier scenes. This was the climax, 115 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 2: This was the moment the character was building toward all along. 116 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 2: Finally something for him to do, something big. He was 117 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 2: going to rescue the little girl and kill anyone who 118 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 2: got in his way, even if it meant dying himself. 119 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 2: Dying would be a bonus. Actually, what did this life 120 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 2: given him? Anyway, nothing but loneliness and rage, rejection at 121 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 2: every turn, an extreme inability to relate to anyone or 122 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 2: anything except for the needs of a helpless little twelve 123 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 2: and a half year old girl turned into a prostitute 124 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 2: by this scum of the earth. Pimp Matthew aka Sport. 125 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 2: Sport got it first. 126 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: At close range. 127 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 2: Travis shot him on the street outside the brothel with 128 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 2: his stub nosed thirty eight. Travis then stormed inside and 129 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,599 Speaker 2: confronted the pimps bagman, who collected the cash from the 130 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 2: Johns outside the disgusting smelling room where Iris supplied her trade. 131 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 2: Travis took aim and fired, this time with the heavy artillery, 132 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 2: with the forty four magnum the Elephant Killer. But the 133 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 2: man was no elephant. The bagman raised his hand in defense, 134 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 2: the bullet blasted off four of his five fingers. Blood 135 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 2: splattered everywhere all over the brothels hallway, all over Travis's face. 136 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 2: Just then another gunshot, this one from behind Travis from Sport, 137 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 2: who somehow survived the close range bullet from the thirty 138 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 2: eight and made his way into the brothel after Travis. 139 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 2: The bullet grazed Travis's neck. 140 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:26,559 Speaker 1: The motelod. 141 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 2: Travis took game with his forty four blasted Sport away 142 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 2: and then stumbled in a daze toward Iris. In that room, 143 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 2: Iris was the only thing that mattered, saving her, delivering 144 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 2: her from this hellscape of a city, avenging the sins 145 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 2: that had been carried out against her, the defiling of 146 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 2: this innocent young girl by predators. She was powerless against 147 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 2: that dynamic resonated with Travis. He too was powerless. His innocence, too, 148 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 2: had been stripped away by forces he couldn't control. Iris 149 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 2: Iris Iris. 150 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: Travis put two more bullets into Sport for. 151 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 2: Insurance, and another into the bagman before making his way 152 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 2: to Iris's room. Then the John emerged into the hallway 153 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 2: and caught Travis off guard, firing a bullet into his arm. 154 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 2: Tavisong loaded a full round into the John, at least 155 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 2: three bullets in the face, more to the torso blood 156 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,479 Speaker 2: spewed red and hot from the John's cheeks and his chest. 157 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 2: The John fell backward into Iris's room, and there she was. 158 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,439 Speaker 2: She screamed in horror at the dead man, who had 159 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 2: just collapsed on the floor. Travis moved toward her, but 160 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 2: now the bagman was on his feet and on top 161 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 2: of Travis, on his back, actually screaming, ignoring him. Travis 162 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 2: continued to march toward Iris. Iris was all that mattered. 163 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,199 Speaker 2: Iris was all there was, and the bagman managed to 164 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 2: tackle Travis to the ground. In the tussle, Travis stabbed 165 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 2: him through his hand. Screams filled the whorehouse. Travis grabbed 166 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 2: the dead John's gun lying on the floor, and shot 167 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:00,120 Speaker 2: the screaming bagman through his face, exiting his brains to 168 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 2: the wall next to Iris, who was by this point hysterical. 169 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 2: Travis's job was done. He'd freed Iris, avenged her stolen innocence, 170 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 2: and by extension, his too. He put the gun to 171 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 2: the bottom of his chin and pulled the trigger. The 172 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 2: chamber was empty. The scene was perfect. It was as 173 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 2: violent a scene as a Hollywood studio had ever produced, 174 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 2: except the movie hadn't yet been fully produced. It was 175 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 2: still being edited, and the studio had yet to approve 176 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 2: the final cut. Three characters were killed in this fictional scene, 177 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 2: and this scene was about to result in. 178 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: A very real death. 179 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese sat pensively in his Mohome apartment high above Hollywood. 180 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 2: The location had been prescribed by doctor's orders. Scorsese's asthma 181 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 2: was so bad that his physician required him to live 182 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 2: above the LA's smog line. Hollywood the only city in 183 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 2: the world where this New York director could gain access 184 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 2: to the resources needed to direct the kind of personal 185 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 2: pictures he wanted to direct, on the same scale as 186 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 2: the greats he admired who came before him, Howard Hawks, 187 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 2: john Ford, Vincent Minelli. This city was literally choking him 188 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 2: to death. And if it wasn't the city itself, it 189 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 2: was the studio. Scorsese had just returned from screening his 190 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 2: final cut of Taxi Driver for Columbia Studio executive Stanley Jaffey. 191 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: Jaffey hated it too. 192 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 2: Violent, and there was no way, in his estimation, the 193 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 2: Taxi Driver would be granted an R rating from the 194 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 2: Motion Picture Association of America. With the way Scorsese had 195 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,680 Speaker 2: constructed the final scene, an X rating was almost certain, 196 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 2: and an X rating meant a major reduction in revenue, 197 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 2: So from the studio executive's perspective, there was only one option. 198 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 2: He demanded Martin Scorsese re edit the end of Taxi 199 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 2: Driver to make it less violent in order to garner 200 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 2: a more favorable rating from the MPAA. In the meeting, 201 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 2: Scorsese said nothing. The rage inside him shocked him silent. 202 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 2: Who was this guy to tell him how to cut 203 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 2: his movie. His criticism wasn't reserved only for the end either. 204 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 2: The executive Jaffey, wanted Scorsese to lose the so called 205 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 2: artsy shots of Travis and of New York City from 206 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 2: earlier in the film as well, claiming they were disrupting 207 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 2: the momentum and that audiences weren't going to flock to 208 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 2: the theaters on mass to see a student art film. 209 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 2: They wanted action, They wanted Charles Bronson blasting away bad guys, 210 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 2: and as many scenes as possible and death wish but 211 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 2: you know, not as violent as the ending of Taxi 212 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 2: Driver that Scorsese was suggesting. 213 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: Audiences, according to the executive. 214 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 2: Wanted action. They didn't want Gadar and Antonioni. Scorsese realized 215 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 2: he was now taking orders from a philistine. It wasn't 216 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 2: worth the argument. So now Eerie sat in his apartment 217 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 2: pondering what to do. His rising headache made it nearly 218 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 2: impossible to concentrate on finding a solution. He scanned the room. 219 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 2: The script pages were scattered across the coffee table. The 220 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 2: typewriter housed a sheet of paper covered with the filmmaker's 221 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 2: manic ramblings, all caps, no spaces, and there were empty 222 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 2: pill bottles half full open bottles of wine. A television 223 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 2: on in the corner in a circle of John's. 224 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: Keeping watch over the apartment. 225 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 2: On the TV John Ford's The Searcher showed John Wayne's 226 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,800 Speaker 2: Ethan Edwards character seeking revenge on the wall, a movie 227 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 2: poster John Houston's classic Tale of Vengeance Moby Dick. Then 228 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 2: on the TV table Scorsese's forty four Magnum, an exact 229 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 2: replica weapon of choice of his revenge fueled character Travis Bickle. 230 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 2: Scorsese picked up the gun and then picked up the phone. 231 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 2: H Scorsese's friend, the young director Stephen Spielberg, fresh off 232 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 2: the release of his Perfect Studio produced box office smash Jaws, 233 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 2: ignored the phone and focused on the book he was reading, 234 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 2: Jacques Valais, The Invisible College. What a group of scientists 235 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 2: has discovered about UFO influence on the human race. Another 236 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 2: of Scorsese's friends, another director, Brian de Palma, the man 237 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 2: responsible for introducing Scorsese to Robert de Niro, He too 238 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 2: ignored the ringing telephone on his nightstand, surrounded by notes 239 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 2: with angry messages from a nerdy horror author up in Maine. 240 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 2: De Palma ignored those messages just as he ignored his phone. Instead, 241 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 2: he rolled over to focus on the naked beach blanket 242 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 2: hippie blonde in his bed. The phone director John Millius's 243 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 2: place went unanswered as well. John had other things to do, 244 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 2: like pack for his trip to the Philippines, where the 245 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 2: film he'd written, Apocalypse Now for friend Francis fort Coppola 246 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 2: was in production. Word it was, it was a disaster. 247 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: And over at Paul Schrader's place, as Paul. 248 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 2: Cleaned his own gun, he too ignored his phone, except 249 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 2: Paul knew it was his friend Marty calling with more 250 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 2: bad news about the taxi driver's script that Paul himself 251 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 2: had written, which Scorsese was having a hard time finishing. 252 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 2: Paul Schrader was as pissed off as John Millius was 253 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 2: in a rush, as Brian to Palmer was indifferent, as 254 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 2: Steven Spielberg was distracted. But Martin Scorsese was determined, so 255 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 2: he kept calling, and the phones kept ringing until one 256 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 2: and then all of his friends heard the distraught states 257 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 2: Scorsese was in. On the other end of the line. 258 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 2: He was like nothing they'd ever heard before. Even for 259 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 2: the notoriously high strung Scorsese, this state he was in 260 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 2: was serious. Marty was as sleep deprived as Travis Bickle 261 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 2: and on twice as many pills. His anger was as 262 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 2: palpable as the La smog on a scorching summer day. 263 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 2: He was rambling like a madman, talking twice as fast 264 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 2: as normal, something about the cocksuck studio, fuck with the 265 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 2: ricotta cheese for brains, How the Solas automaton didn't want violence, Well, 266 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 2: then how would he deal with this kind of violence, 267 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 2: the kind that drove a young promising director to blasting 268 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 2: his own brains all over the walls of his apartment. 269 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 2: They all moved with sudden urgency into their cars, racing 270 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,200 Speaker 2: through the streets of Hollywood up into the dead man 271 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,880 Speaker 2: curves of Mahall, nearly killing themselves in the process. One 272 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 2: by one, all four directors wheeled into Scorsese's driveway at 273 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 2: the same time, exited their cars, raced to the locked 274 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 2: front door, tried pushing it open, banged on it, profusely 275 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 2: rang the doorbell, readied themselves to batter ram it down 276 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 2: with all of their combined force. 277 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: And then. 278 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 2: The massive shotgun blast rang. In the New Year, January first, 279 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy two, three years earlier, the shotgun was a 280 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 2: substitute for fireworks. John Millius stood on the porsch of 281 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,200 Speaker 2: Margo Kitders Nicholas Beach a frame and fired his gun 282 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 2: out over the Pacific Ocean. None of Margot's guests were shocked, 283 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 2: especially not Margot's boyfriend Brian de Palma. Guns were always around, 284 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 2: and why wouldn't they be John Millius, who had written 285 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 2: the script for Apocalypse Now, and to Palma, who had 286 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 2: written the excellent Hitchcock style thriller Sisters starring kidder In 287 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 2: her housemate Jennifer Salt, and Steven Spielberg, who was also 288 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 2: milling about the New Year's Day party he'd just released 289 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 2: the excellent thriller Duel for television. And Paul Schrader, at 290 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 2: the time a subversive film critic, but who was working 291 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 2: on a script about a lonesome, homicidal cab driver. 292 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,199 Speaker 1: All of these filmmakers. 293 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 2: Were revolutionaries, so yeah, guns were up in the mix. 294 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 2: Guns were necessary. If not literally then figuratively, what these 295 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 2: filmmakers were endeavoring to do creatively was high stakes by 296 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:19,440 Speaker 2: any means. 297 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: Necessary type stuff. 298 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 2: Their goal, both collectively and individually, was as audacious as 299 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 2: it was dangerous, to make extremely personal movies with the 300 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 2: backing of the major Hollywood studios, so that they could 301 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 2: reach as wide an audience as possible. It's not like 302 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,439 Speaker 2: the Hollywood studios hadn't made big budget films that reached 303 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 2: massive audiences before. Of course they had, but the studios 304 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 2: had never turned control of those pictures over to a 305 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,200 Speaker 2: band of young outsiders who didn't come up as directors 306 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:54,199 Speaker 2: through the studios, who came instead from film schools, and 307 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 2: who wanted to make movies that expressed their own personal 308 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,479 Speaker 2: experiences and that spoke to the tumultuous time times they 309 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 2: were living through and spoke directly to the young people 310 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 2: living through those times at that moment. This was before 311 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 2: Spielberg's Jaws and before any real success for any of 312 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 2: these so called Hollywood brats. This was the early nineteen seventies. 313 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,719 Speaker 2: This was a moment in time in Hollywood that had 314 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:22,680 Speaker 2: never existed before and would never exist again, a time 315 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 2: when the town was still on a contact tie from 316 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 2: the success of nineteen sixty nine's Easy Rider, an adult 317 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 2: movie written not just about young people, but four young people. 318 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 2: The film changed the industry. Studio executives were forced to 319 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 2: reckon with the fact that they were losing money because 320 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 2: the films. 321 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: They were creating were out of touch. 322 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 2: Therefore, they needed fresh creative perspective from young directors who 323 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 2: came from outside the studio system, and for the first 324 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 2: time in Hollywood's history, came from, like I said, film school. 325 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:55,440 Speaker 1: That's where this group. 326 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 2: Of young filmmakers came from, and that's why the mood 327 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 2: was so jubilant. They knew that not only were they revolutionaries, 328 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:05,320 Speaker 2: some of them literally toting guns, they knew that they 329 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 2: had Hollywood by the balls, and it was only a 330 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 2: matter of time before one or all of them broke through. 331 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: In a big way. 332 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 2: The confidence did not, however, extend to Martin Scorsese, who 333 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,400 Speaker 2: was at that moment, sulking on the beach, fully assembled 334 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 2: and perfectly pressed pants, buttoned up, big collared starch shirt 335 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 2: and shine shoes, looking as East coast as one could 336 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 2: on a West Coast beach, watching Margo Kidder and her 337 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 2: equally sexy housemate Jennifer Salt sunbathe in their bikinis. Scorsese's 338 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 2: own girlfriend, Sandy Wintrop, daughter of Warner Brothers studio executive 339 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 2: Fred Winetrop, didn't seem to mind. She also didn't mind 340 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 2: being referred to in mean streets as the wine trot 341 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 2: brought by de Niro's Johnny Boy character. But I digress. 342 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 2: It was the early seventies, liberation was in the air. 343 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 2: Scorsese pondered his dilemma. How in the hell was he 344 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 2: or empty, fast talking Italian kid from New York with 345 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 2: no money gonna make the types of movies he wanted 346 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 2: to make movies that reflected the violence, spiritual confusion, and 347 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 2: sexual frustration he'd experienced back in New York City's Little 348 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 2: Italy neighborhood where he grew up amid real life gangsters 349 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 2: and godlike priests. How is that possible in the town 350 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 2: like this, where the sun and the smog and the 351 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,159 Speaker 2: smiles and the shit talk comed along an incessant contradiction. 352 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 2: How had he ended up here? Him Martin Scorsese, a 353 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 2: tailor's son on a god forsaken beach with a studio 354 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,320 Speaker 2: boss's daughter, as a girlfriend and ambition as big as 355 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 2: the Pacific Ocean staring back at him, threatening to swallow 356 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 2: him whole. He did not have an answer, but at 357 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 2: least he had friends. Steven Spielberg stopped by SCORSESEI on 358 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:53,120 Speaker 2: the beach on his way into the water and asked 359 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 2: him if. 360 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: He wanted to join him for a dip. Come on, 361 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:56,959 Speaker 1: let's go in the ocean. 362 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 2: Spielberg directed, no, no, no, it's very it's evil. There's 363 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 2: things out there you don't even want to know about. 364 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 2: Scorsese replied, are you afraid of jellyfish? There's no jellyfish 365 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 2: out there? Spielberg responded, no, no. 366 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 1: No, things with teeth. 367 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 2: Spielberg gave up and moved toward the water. His imagination 368 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 2: burned like the hot sand beneath his feet. Interior, Martin 369 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 2: Scorsese's apartment night. We fast forward into nineteen seventy five, 370 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 2: to the night of Back, to the moment before our hero, 371 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese loses it and decides to call on his 372 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,679 Speaker 2: friends to come save him. The camera shows a close, 373 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 2: full body profile shot of our hero sitting in a 374 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 2: comfortable chair just a few feet from a small television 375 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,439 Speaker 2: on a small television stand. His leg extends out with 376 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 2: his cowboy boot perched on the television. He carefully extends 377 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 2: pressure from his foot to slowly rock the TV back 378 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 2: and forth on its stand. We see that he is 379 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 2: stowing and holding a massive black forty four magnum pistol 380 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 2: in his hand. Resting in his lap is a half 381 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 2: empty jar of peanut butter that our hero eats out 382 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 2: of for a spoon. The television plays an old black 383 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 2: and white film, Stanley Kubrick's The Killing from nineteen fifty six. 384 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,440 Speaker 2: Our hero stares at the action on the screen, still 385 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,919 Speaker 2: carefully pressing his foot against the television, causing it to 386 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 2: teeter ever so slightly, before returning upright, daring it to 387 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 2: tip over on the television. Character actor Timothy Carey, one 388 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 2: of Hollywood's great bad guys, leaves his hideout with his 389 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 2: rifle concealed in a guitar case, and then speeds away 390 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 2: off to the racetrack to pull a job. He posts 391 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,920 Speaker 2: up away from the track with a clear sight line 392 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 2: to his mark, the thoroughbred racehorse that he must keep 393 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 2: from winning, that he must kill. It occurs to our 394 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 2: hero Martin Scorsese in that moment that the studios are 395 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 2: like the great Thoroughbreds in Kubrick's film, racing down the Stretch, 396 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 2: these big bohemus lumbering through our culture, winning and losing 397 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 2: an equal measure with the highest of stakes being ridden 398 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 2: hard by their studio executives, stampeding over the souls of 399 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 2: some of our greatest creative minds. Scorsese feels a tinge 400 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 2: of rage. He presses harder against the television with his foot, 401 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,880 Speaker 2: causing it to wobble, almost to the point of tipping over, 402 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 2: and then returning once more on the screen. The thoroughbreds 403 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 2: race around the track. Timothy Carrey takes aim with his rifle, 404 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 2: and when the moment is just right, he fires without 405 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 2: prejudice at the racing beast, stopping it dead in its tracks. 406 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 2: We hear the action from the film in the background, 407 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 2: but our attention is drawn to the hushed, manic mumbling 408 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 2: from our hero, sitting opposite the TV, still pressing against 409 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 2: it with his foot, still rocking it dangerously back and forth. 410 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 2: As Scorsese watches the television action, he becomes disassociated. He's 411 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 2: looking at the TV, but he's no longer seeing anything 412 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 2: but visions of violence, his own violence. What was previously 413 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 2: the sound of his mumbling morphs into the rambling of 414 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 2: a madman as Martin Scorsese, he begins reciting his own 415 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,679 Speaker 2: taxi driver dialogue to bring to life the violent vision 416 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 2: in his head. 417 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:28,400 Speaker 1: We're gonna sit you see him? Do you see him? 418 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: You see him? 419 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:29,200 Speaker 2: Right? 420 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 3: I want you to see him because that's my movie. 421 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 2: But that's not my film. 422 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: It's not my film. You know whose film it is? 423 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 4: Huh? 424 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:46,119 Speaker 2: No, you would know whose film it is. 425 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: I'm just saying, but you know whose fili it is? 426 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:48,640 Speaker 3: Huh? 427 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,440 Speaker 1: The studios film. How do you like that a studio. 428 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 2: Executive owns my film? 429 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 4: And I'm gonna I'm gonna kill him if. 430 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 2: There's nothing else, I'm just I'm gonna I'm gonna kill him. 431 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 4: Now what do you think of that? Hm? I said, 432 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 4: what do you think of that? Don't answer? You don't 433 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 4: have to answer everything. I'm gonna kill him. 434 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 3: I'm gonna kill him with a forty four magnum pistol. 435 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,360 Speaker 3: I have a forty four magnum pistol and I'm gonna 436 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 3: kill him with that gun. Now, did you ever see 437 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 3: did you ever see what a forty four magnive pistol 438 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 3: could do to a studio executive's face. 439 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: I mean, you need to fucking destroy it. 440 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 3: Just blow it right apart. 441 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 1: That's what it can do to a face. 442 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 2: Now, did you ever see what it can do to 443 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:40,199 Speaker 2: a studio executive's fat fucking mouth? That? 444 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: You should see that. 445 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 2: You should see what a forty four Maggie is gonna 446 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 2: do with a studio executive's fat fucking molt. 447 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 3: You should see. 448 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 2: Just then, Scarsese's foot pushes the television to touch too far, 449 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 2: toppling it over onto its back, exploding its tubes and 450 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 2: causing a small plume of smoke to shock our hero 451 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 2: out of a seat. Scarsese then stumbles hurriedly toward it. 452 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 2: Phone he dials, waits impatiently. On the other end, we 453 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 2: hear Steven Spielberg, Hello, Stephen, I know what I'm going 454 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 2: to do. I'm going to kill him. 455 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. We're We're We're. 456 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese's best friends in Hollywood. Steven Spielberg, Brian de Palmer, 457 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,959 Speaker 2: John Millius, and Paul Schrader all pulled into his driverway 458 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 2: at the same time, ready to save their friend from 459 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 2: doing something stupid that would change his life forever. When 460 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 2: they entered his home, they were shocked to see the 461 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 2: broken television, the forty four magnum, the empty wine bottles, 462 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 2: and the pills and cocaine paraphernalia. 463 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: All out in the open. 464 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 2: But none of that was nearly as shocking as the 465 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 2: state Martin Scorsese was in a manic, paranoid anger on 466 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 2: the verge of tears. Scorsese paced nonsense, stop, his words 467 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,959 Speaker 2: coming out in a torrent. His friends tried to get 468 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 2: him to slow down, but he would not. Eventually they 469 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 2: took the hint, Sat and let Marty. Event the problem 470 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 2: became evident immediately. Taxi Driver, the film was done as 471 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 2: far as Scorsese was concerned. He'd shown it to the 472 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 2: studio executive at Columbia responsible for the film, and before 473 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 2: he got to his point, it was obvious to Spielberg 474 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 2: and Di Pama and everyone else that Scorsese did not 475 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 2: get the response he wanted from the studio. Taxi Driver 476 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 2: had been years of work. It started a young, incredibly 477 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 2: talented Robert de Niro, fresh off his Oscar win for 478 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 2: Best Supporting Actor and Godfather Too, and it had been 479 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 2: written by Paul Schrader, but it was Martin Scorsese's movie. 480 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: The film was a perfect reflection. 481 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 2: Of Scorsese as a person, all the anger, all the 482 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 2: alienation he felt, first as a small weak boy growing 483 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 2: up in a massive, violent city, and then as a vulnerable, 484 00:29:58,040 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 2: creative young man trying to make it in a corrupt 485 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 2: autumn like Hollywood. 486 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: Taxi Driver. 487 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 2: As it was, was as perfect as it could get 488 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 2: from Martin Scorsese's perspective. He'd squeezed every penny out of 489 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 2: his meager two million dollar budget. He'd milked every influence 490 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 2: from every great director he'd studied growing up, which is 491 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 2: to say all of them, Truffau and Bergmann, Powell and Presburger, 492 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 2: and of course the Johns, Ford and Houston and too 493 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 2: many others to mention. Every scene in the film was 494 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 2: intentionally designed to move to Nero's Travis Bickle character toward 495 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 2: his violent resolution, and every shot carefully calibrated to emotionally 496 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 2: impact the viewer. There was no more editing left to do. 497 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese couldn't see how he could change anything in 498 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 2: the film, even if he wanted to. By this point, 499 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 2: he was creatively spent, like his character Travis Bickle Martin 500 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 2: Scorsese hadn't slept in days. He felt the boundary between 501 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 2: art and reality slipping away. He was sure he tripped 502 00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 2: some figurative wire and was now. 503 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: Clinically in but that didn't matter. 504 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 2: All that mattered was making sure that his film was 505 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 2: shown on screens in the way that he intended. 506 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:08,440 Speaker 1: Audiences to see it. 507 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 2: The studio executives, in particular Stanley Jaffy from Columbia Pictures, 508 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 2: weren't going to allow that to happen, Scorsese explained to 509 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 2: his friends in the room. Paul Schrader, the film screenwriter, 510 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 2: wanted to know why. The reason, Scorsese explained had nothing 511 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 2: to do with the writing. It was because of the 512 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,719 Speaker 2: final edit and the final scene. The action was too violent, 513 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 2: too bloody. The studio was convinced that if they submitted 514 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 2: the film as it was to the Motion Picture Association 515 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 2: of America the MPAA, that it would most certainly receive 516 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 2: an X rating, and an X rating would kill box 517 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 2: office returns. 518 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: Only a fraction of. 519 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 2: The audience the studio was counting on would show up 520 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 2: to see the film. Scorsese didn't want an X rating either, 521 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 2: but he wasn't convinced that his final scene, the one 522 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 2: with Travis Bickle blasting the bag man's fingers off of 523 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 2: his hand and blood splattering all over his own face 524 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 2: before he blasts the brain the bag man out of 525 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 2: the back of his head and. 526 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 1: All over the brothel wall. 527 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 2: Scorsese believed that even though this scene went for it 528 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 2: in a way that other films hadn't, that audiences were 529 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 2: ready for it, and the MPAA would not give it 530 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 2: an X. It was nineteen seventy five Taxi Driver, he 531 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 2: believed would receive an R rating, but again Scorsese explained, 532 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 2: the studio disagreed. 533 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:25,200 Speaker 1: They were insisting that. 534 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 2: Scorsese cut the entire ending and come up with a 535 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 2: less violent way to conclude the film. What did they know, 536 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 2: Millius asked, Scorsese thought about it. 537 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: Big John was right. 538 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 2: The studios didn't know shit. Scorsese looked at the broken 539 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 2: TV on the floor and asked his friends if they 540 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 2: knew what he'd been watching before they showed out. The 541 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 2: Palma said looks like bad television, and the others laughed, 542 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 2: because in nineteen seventy five there was only bad television, 543 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 2: an old Kubrick picture. Scorsese said, the killing his friends, 544 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 2: nodded and smiled in approval. Sterling Hayden. De Paumas said affectionately, 545 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 2: Hayden was a cammy snitch. Schrader quipped, Hayden was a 546 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 2: goddamn war hero. Millis protested, Timothy Carey is my favorite 547 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,360 Speaker 2: in that film, Spielberg offered. Scorsese lit, up, that's right, 548 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 2: Timothy Carrey, great character actor. Do you know the story 549 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 2: of Timothy Carey and Harry Cohne. The others gave him 550 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 2: blank stares. Scorsese took it as his cue to go on. 551 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,360 Speaker 2: Timothy Carey was auditioning for Harry Cohne in the early fifties, 552 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 2: back when Columbia stilled a lot of juice and Coan 553 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 2: was the studio head. You know, I don't know for 554 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 2: which picture Timothy Carey was auditioning for, but Coan was 555 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 2: there and the audition, and you know, con was a 556 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 2: real bastard when he wanted to be. 557 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: You've heard the stories. 558 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 2: Anyways, the audition isn't going well, and I don't know 559 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 2: what gets said, but something gets said, maybe from Cone, 560 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:50,120 Speaker 2: maybe from the director. 561 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: Who knows. 562 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 2: The point is Timothy Carey is standing up there acting 563 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 2: his guts out for these fucking animals who know nothing 564 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,040 Speaker 2: about art, who know only from dollars and cents, and 565 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 2: Timothy Carey's losing it, you know. So in the middle 566 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 2: of the audition, Timothy Carey reaches into his pocket and 567 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 2: pulls out a pistol. Con in the others in the 568 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,120 Speaker 2: room get real stiff. Con looks around for his fixer, 569 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 2: but his fixer isn't in the room. There's no muscle. 570 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 2: It's just him and whoever this blind director is that 571 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,000 Speaker 2: he's got in the room with them. Timothy Carey then 572 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,279 Speaker 2: holds the gun up, points the gun at Cone in 573 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 2: the middle of the audition and says, very calmly, but 574 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 2: you know, he's kind of trembling. He's so emotional. He's 575 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 2: pointing the gun at one of the biggest studio heads 576 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 2: in Hollywood, and he says, this is so humiliating standing 577 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 2: up here and acting for you people who know nothing 578 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 2: about actors, nothing about my art. And then and then 579 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 2: he fires the gun. The gun though fully loaded, yes, 580 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 2: but fully loaded with blanks. Cone of course didn't know that. 581 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 2: Con must have shitit his pants, but he had it coming. 582 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,920 Speaker 2: Timothy Carey was right to do it. These fucking executives. 583 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:53,640 Speaker 2: This guy, my guy Jaffi. He doesn't know anything about film, 584 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 2: So I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do 585 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,440 Speaker 2: what Timothy Carey did, but I'm gonna do it for real. Hm, 586 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 2: I'm gonna shoot him. I'm gonna kill him for killing 587 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 2: my filmer. 588 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:18,279 Speaker 3: Sller Throller. 589 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:20,839 Speaker 4: Sllerller. 590 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:27,719 Speaker 2: Back in the mall halland apartment, Martin Scorsese sat on 591 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,759 Speaker 2: his sofa with his head between his knees, listening to 592 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,239 Speaker 2: his filmmaker friends talk about of murdering the studio executive 593 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 2: who was ruining his film. Spielberg de Palma Emilius offered 594 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 2: calm reasoning, but no solutions. Schrader offered nothing. He sat quietly, 595 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 2: fingering his small thirty eight sumb nose that he took 596 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 2: everywhere A real butte that gun. If he didn't know 597 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,760 Speaker 2: any better, you'd think Schrader, screenwriter of Taxi Driver, approved 598 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 2: of Scorsese's plan to kill the Columbia executive. Scorsese picked 599 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,560 Speaker 2: his head up from between his knees, leaned back on 600 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 2: the couch, stretched his arms, and surveyed his apartment that 601 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:11,280 Speaker 2: he destroyed earlier in anger. The voices of his friends 602 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,279 Speaker 2: were jumbled. It was as if he was disconnected from 603 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 2: the reality he was situated in. He was there, but 604 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,359 Speaker 2: he wasn't. His sleep deprivation had pushed him into an 605 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 2: ethereal realm of disassociation. The voices murmured in the background. 606 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,600 Speaker 2: His eyes took in the damage. Then he looked to 607 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:33,840 Speaker 2: the wall and the John Houston Moby Dick movie poster 608 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,839 Speaker 2: caught his eye. His brain snapped in a focus. That's it, 609 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:41,640 Speaker 2: of course, he blurted out into the room, Moby Dick. 610 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 2: Everyone else stopped talking, looks of confusion on all of 611 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,000 Speaker 2: their faces, save for Paul Schraders, who gave a slight 612 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,320 Speaker 2: chuckle and nod of acknowledgment. 613 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,600 Speaker 1: As he continued to fiddle with his thirty eight. That's it, 614 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 1: that's the solution. 615 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 2: Scorsese said, as he pointed to the movie poster on 616 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:02,319 Speaker 2: the wall. Spielberg got it next. A big smile came 617 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:06,160 Speaker 2: over his face. That's right, the colorization. 618 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 1: De Palma walked toward the poster, staring at it. You mean, 619 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:12,759 Speaker 1: desaturate the. 620 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 2: Colors in your final scene like Houston did in the 621 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 2: whole picture. Uh huh, Scorsese said. Milius chimed in desaturating 622 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,360 Speaker 2: the eastern color negative you shot on will do what 623 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,400 Speaker 2: How does that solve anything? You still get the bloody 624 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:31,160 Speaker 2: a scene a Hollywood studio has ever potentially produced. Strader, annoyed, 625 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:36,839 Speaker 2: answered for Scorsese, desaturating it makes the blood look less realistic. 626 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:42,840 Speaker 2: But Spielberg interrupted, Scorsese finished his friend's sentence. Desaturating it 627 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 2: like Houston did in his picture, gives the scene an 628 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 2: ethereal feel. And that works, you know, because in that 629 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 2: climactic scene, Travis is in a trance and then we 630 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:54,320 Speaker 2: cut to the dan U man without the saturation. 631 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:56,440 Speaker 1: The desaturation will. 632 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,080 Speaker 2: Make the look of the film less realistic. 633 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,160 Speaker 1: Sure, but it'll actually make it. 634 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:05,480 Speaker 2: More shocking, Spielberg said, right. Scorsese agreed, more shocking. 635 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,680 Speaker 1: So I win. It's actually better. It's better. 636 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,319 Speaker 2: Scorsese fell out and laughter. Brian de Palma wanted to 637 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:15,600 Speaker 2: know if that put an end to Marty's revenge fantasy. 638 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,920 Speaker 2: Scorsese just kept on laughing. John Millius offered to see 639 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 2: if his buddy Francis Ford Coppola had a line on 640 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,160 Speaker 2: any tanks from the upcoming Apocalypse Now Shoot. Big John 641 00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 2: would gladly storm the offices of Columbia and take Marty's 642 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:35,439 Speaker 2: guy out. Everyone but Paul Schrader laughed. Schrader seemed disappointed, 643 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 2: Too bad, he said, staring wistfully at the thirty eight 644 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 2: in his lap. Brian de Palmer walked over to him 645 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 2: and gave Schrader his best Sonny corleone, you want to 646 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 2: gun down a studio executive because he slapped Marty's film. 647 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:49,000 Speaker 1: Around a little bit. 648 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 2: Huh, what do you think this is the army where you. 649 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:52,359 Speaker 1: Shoot him a mile away? 650 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,279 Speaker 2: No, you gotta get up close like this about a bing. 651 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:54,799 Speaker 1: You blow the. 652 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:59,800 Speaker 2: Brains all over your nice ivy league suit. Schrader smiled finally, 653 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:04,839 Speaker 2: and everyone else cracked up. Scorsese stopped laughing first and 654 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:10,640 Speaker 2: got real serious. You know, he said, it actually is 655 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,719 Speaker 2: a lot like Francis's film. It's a lot like The 656 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:18,600 Speaker 2: Godfather this year, except it's the opposite. When Hagen says 657 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:23,799 Speaker 2: it's not personal, Sonny, it's strictly business, the apartment went 658 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 2: dead silent. Scorsese went on, except it is. It is 659 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:33,880 Speaker 2: personal making these pictures. It's personal for me, it's personal 660 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 2: for you and you and you and you this one, 661 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:41,240 Speaker 2: I know it's personal for Bob, for everyone, involved except 662 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:48,200 Speaker 2: the business people while making movies. It's not business. It's 663 00:39:48,239 --> 00:39:55,640 Speaker 2: strictly personal. Slow Zoom out high above the five filmmakers talking, hugging, 664 00:39:55,880 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 2: and exchanging goodbyes. Taxi Driver was released with the edit 665 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:04,759 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese wanted and the desaturated film technique at the 666 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:09,040 Speaker 2: end of the movie shock moviegoers and thrilled critics. Taxi 667 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,800 Speaker 2: Driver won the prestigious pond Ur at the nineteen seventy 668 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,080 Speaker 2: six camp Film Festival, who was nominated for Best Picture, 669 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 2: Best Actor for Robert de Niro, and Best Supporting Actress 670 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,560 Speaker 2: for Jodi Foster at the nineteen seventy six Academy Awards. 671 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,720 Speaker 2: The film generated nearly thirty million dollars at the box 672 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:30,360 Speaker 2: office on a two million dollar budget. Martin Scorsese's Taxi 673 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,840 Speaker 2: Driver was a business success because the director kept his 674 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:39,840 Speaker 2: creation personal. Any other way would have been a disgrace. 675 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:58,879 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan in this this disgrace Land all right, 676 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,560 Speaker 2: thanks for hanging out with me in nineteen seventies Hollywood 677 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:02,320 Speaker 2: for this episode. 678 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 1: I hope you dug it. 679 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,279 Speaker 2: Apple podcast listeners, make sure you have automatic downloads turned 680 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,200 Speaker 2: on so you don't miss any episodes. Okay, this week's 681 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:12,480 Speaker 2: question of the week is who is your favorite filmmaker 682 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:13,280 Speaker 2: and why? 683 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:15,640 Speaker 1: Which director slash filmmaker. 684 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:17,839 Speaker 2: Makes the movies that resonate most with you and why? 685 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:18,560 Speaker 1: I want to know? 686 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:20,520 Speaker 2: Hit me up and your answers might get played on 687 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:22,759 Speaker 2: the after party episode coming to your feed right after 688 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:23,360 Speaker 2: this episode. 689 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:25,600 Speaker 1: You know the drill. I'm at six one seven nine 690 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:26,960 Speaker 1: oh six sixty six three eight. 691 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:28,759 Speaker 2: Leave me a voicemail, sent me a text and let 692 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,160 Speaker 2: me know. You can also reach me at disgrace lampod 693 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,080 Speaker 2: as well on Instagram, X and Facebook. Leave a review 694 00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,000 Speaker 2: for the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and win 695 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:36,680 Speaker 2: some free merch. 696 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:38,400 Speaker 1: Alright, here comes some credits. 697 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:42,960 Speaker 2: Disgracelam was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership. 698 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:43,480 Speaker 1: With Double Elvis. 699 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,000 Speaker 2: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 700 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,759 Speaker 2: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 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