Director Martin Scorsese is known for his prolific career full of fictionalized feature films. He arrived on the scene with the Roger Corman-produced Boxcar Bertha in 1972, moving on with his break-through Mean Streets in 1973. Scorsese’s status reached new levels with the release of Taxi Driver in 1976. Scorsese has been synonymous with gritty American cinema ever since.
While his filmography is defined by these dramatic movies, Scorsese has directed and produced over a dozen documentaries during his 50 year-spanning career. One of his earliest credits is as an editor for 1970’s Woodstock documentary. Many of Scorsese’s own documentaries focus on the musicians and genres that have served as personal inspirations for him. The documentaries on this list, ranked by their score on IMDb, attest to Scorsese’s ability to transform his love for song into compelling, narrative-driven works of art.
The Concert For New York City: The Neighborhood (2001) - 6.1
Scorsese directed a short film made to accompany the video release of this benefit concert organized in New York City after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The concert, which occurred on October 20, 2001, at Madison Square Garden, was organized by Paul McCartney. His goal was to raise funds for first responders who were handling the on-going rescue and recovery efforts at the time.
The concert included many big names: The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Mick Jagger with Keith Richards. A slew of American artists also joined them, including American artists Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Destiny’s Child, the Backstreet Boys, and James Taylor. Adam Sandler, a native New Yorker, gave a comedic performance as “Opera Man.”
Shine A Light (2008) - 7.2
Taken from the title of a 1972’s Rolling Stones song from their album Exile On Main St., Shine a Light documents the group’s performance at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre during their 2006 A Bigger Bang Tour. Throughout the film, Scorsese breaks the concert up with archival footage from the band’s decades-spanning career.
This film also marks the first time Scorsese used a digital camera. He shot the Rolling Stones over two nights: October 29 and November 1. Ultimately, he used the footage from the second performance for the movie. The band plays 19 songs, followed by a two-song encore. Mick Jagger later joked that it was the only Scorsese film not to feature their well-known hit “Gimme Shelter.”
The Blues: Feel Like Going Home (2003) - 7.3
Scorsese produced this seven-part documentary about one of the most authentic forms of American music: the blues. He also directed the first segment, entitled Feel Like Going Home, which focuses on the origins of blues music. In it, Scorsese travels to Mississippi, where he dives into the rich history of Delta blues. He then travels to West Africa, the home of many victims of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade who were brought over to the Americas against their will. Blues music originated with these slaves and their descendants.
Scorsese’s segment includes performances by current blues musicians, as well as archival performances from John Lee Hooker, Son House, and Muddy Waters, early blues pioneers. The rest of the series highlights different aspects of the blues and includes segmented directed by the likes of Wim Wenders, Charles Burnett, and Clint Eastwood.
The Last Waltz (1978) - 8.2
Long before Shine a Light, Scorsese documented the San Francisco farewell concert of the classic rock group The Band. The concert, held on Thanksgiving Day, 1976, at the Winterland Ballroom, included performances with more than a dozen special guests, ranging from Bob Dylan to Neil Young to Joni Mitchell to Muddy Waters. Scorsese, who was still relatively unknown at the time of the concert, was brought on to direct the documentary about it thanks to Jonathan Taplin, The Band’s former tour manager who later produced Scorsese’s second film, Mean Streets.
The documentary wasn’t released until 1978, and it includes interviews with The Band as well as staged song renditions in a studio. The Last Waltz has been hailed as one of the best concert films of all time. Scorsese was able to capture the excitement and energy culminating from the stage. The film has received some criticism for focusing too much on The Band’s member Robbie Robertson, while giving less attention to the rest of the group.
George Harrison: Living In The Material World (2011) - 8.2
Named after The Beatles’ George Harrison’s fourth studio album, Living in the Material World, this biopic won two Emmy awards. Scorsese tells Harrison’s story from youth, beginning with his childhood in Liverpool and ending with his death in 2001 from cancer. Harrison’s widow Olivia gave Scorsese her blessing to make the movie. He was given access to Harrison’s own film archive in order to bring the musician’s life story to the big screen.
Harrison spent a lot of time in India, and Hinduist philosophies had a profound impact on his person and musical life. He became a devotee of Krishna Consciousness, and his attachment to the movement is highlighted in the documentary.
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese (2019) - 8.2
Scorsese delves into new territory with this part-fact, part-fiction portrayal of folk singer’s Bob Dylan’s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour. Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, the film brings Dylan’s fantastical career to life through archival and contemporary interviews, outtakes from the singer’s 1978 movie Renaldo and Clara, and reenactments starring well-known actors like Sharon Stone and Michael Murphy.
Absurd and hilarious, The Rolling Thunder Revue, distributed by Netflix, has left many viewers confused, but that seems to be the outcome both Dylan and Scorsese want. Scorsese worked closely with Dylan’s manager Jeff Rosen to make the documentary, and Rosen supplied Scorsese with many of the interviews used throughout the film.
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) - 8.5
Released as part of PBS’s American Masters series, No Direction Home is a sweeping look into Bob Dylan’s life between 1961 and 1966, culminating with his choice to go from an acoustic-yielding folk singer to an electric guitar-playing rock star. Scorsese weaves together an intricate, emotional, and entertaining biopic about one of the most loved and creatively singular American musicians still living today.
The title of the documentary comes from Dylan’s hit song “Like a Rolling Stone,” and it includes interviews from his collaborators and close friends, as well as never-before-seen footage, like a performance at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.
