New documentary on streaming is a must-watch for anyone who likes movies

There are two big new Martin Scorsese-related projects available to watch right now.

Made in its entirety by Rebecca Miller (Maggie's Plan), the project is described as a "film portrait" of the Oscar-winning director, renowned for movies such as The Departed, Goodfellas, The Irishman, The King of Comedy, The Last Temptation of Christ, Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, The Wolf of Wall Street and so many other classics.

For the documentary, Miller sat down with Scorsese, as well as several of his friends and family, and a vast number of his key collaborators (Daniel Day-Lewis, Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, Thelma Schoonmaker, to name but a few) and contemporaries (Brian DePalma, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, etc).

From these conversations and her exclusive unrestricted access to Scorsese's private archives, Miller crafts a dizzying chronicle of the legendary filmmaker's life and career.

She begins with him as a young boy who found a refuge, away from the mean streets of his New York neighbourhood and the loneliness caused by his debilitating asthma, in movies and cinema.

Miller then explores Scorsese's gradual ascent to the household name he is now, capturing plenty of the false starts, the fights with the studios, the personal problems and the great works of art in between.

JOE has seen the first two episodes of Mr. Scorsese, and the only reason we haven't seen more is because we want to fully savour it.

The documentary works on so many levels. If you want to hear famous people recounting very funny and interesting stories about their lives and careers, it contains plenty of that.

If you're someone who has seen a couple of Scorsese films but wants to know more about him and his work, it's a great resource.

The series not only dives into his already widely-considered masterpieces, but it also explores his short films, his documentary work, his concert films, and even his less celebrated dramas.

Miller takes the best clips from these projects and syncs them up with Scorsese and other talking heads, thoughtfully and with genuine honesty, dissecting what worked about them and what didn't and what the initial intentions were.

Plus, the amount of access Miller seems to have been granted, combined with how game Scorsese clearly is to talk about himself and his work, means that even if you are already a scholar of his, you are bound to discover new, fascinating information here.

Really, though, what we find most affecting about the project is how much Scorsese still cares about the film form and the way the documentary captures just how much the director poured himself into each and every one of his movies, even the most commercial.

Die My Love Review

Speaking of Martin Scorsese, the filmmaker is a producer on a major new cinema release this weekend: Die My Love, starring Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse).

Directed by the acclaimed Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here, We Need to Talk About Kevin) and co-written by Irish writer Enda Walsh (Hunger, Small Things Like These), the psychological drama is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Ariana Harwicz.

In the film, Lawrence plays Grace, a young writer who moves with her husband, Jackson (Pattinson), from New York to an old house in rural Montana that the latter inherited from a deceased family member.

The pair seem to have a passionate, loving relationship, and soon after the couple settle into their new environment, they welcome a baby.

Yet, with Jackson then increasingly – and suspiciously – absent, the newfound pressures of domestic life begin to weigh heavily on Grace, causing her to unravel and leave a path of destruction in her wake.

When Die My Love works, it really works. Postpartum depression and psychosis are serious conditions that are often underdiscussed and underexplored, and should be spotlighted.

Between Lawrence's electric, fearless performance and Ramsay's expressionistic, hallucinatory direction, there are moments where the pair really seem to capture the feeling of what it must be like to slowly lose one's grip on reality.

That said, there is an over-reliance on exaggerated metaphors and histrionic behaviour (this is the type of movie where, to give a sense of a character being animalistic, there are numerous scenes of said character walking around on all fours) that does drain a lot of the authenticity out of the central scenario.

This issue is then compounded by some odd narrative decisions. These include a bizarre subplot involving a near-silent use of Oscar-nominee LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) as a local fellow parent with whom Grace becomes infatuated, as well as a late-and-the-game explanation for Grace's behaviour that feels hurried and brushed over.

Lynne Ramsay has suggested in interviews for Die My Love that the movie had a complicated editing process. Indeed, it doesn't feel as emotionally precise and tight as her last two films. One has to wonder if worthwhile footage ended up on the cutting-room floor.

Die My Love is a mixed bag that is very geared towards the arthouse crowd, but it does have strong performances and moments of brilliance.

Where to watch Die My Love and Mr. Scorsese:

Die My Love is in cinemas now. Mr. Scorsese is available to stream in its entirety on Apple TV+.

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