Road To Oscar A Long One For Scorsese

A long-standing cinematic wrong was righted Sunday night, as legendary director Martin Scorsese finally won the Oscar for best director.

The audience at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood jumped to its feet, giving the 64-year-old New York native a rousing standing ovation as his name was called by fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg presented the award flanked by two of Scorsese’s other contemporaries, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.

“So many people over the years have been wishing this for me,” Scorsese said. “And I’m saying thank you.”

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The director’s journey to Oscar may have ended with the film he was finally victorious for – The Departed – but it began nearly three decades ago with his first nomination for Raging Bull, considered by many to be his finest hour. It would be the first of five nominations, and losses, Scorsese would have before winning on his sixth nomination.

In another first, The Departed was subsequently named the year’s best picture – the first time a Scorsese film has done so.

Based on the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, The Departed is a mob tale set in Boston and returns Scorsese to the kind of violent crime thrillers he’s noted for – among them Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. Of the five best picture nominees, which also included The Queen, Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima, and Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed was also the most successful at the box office, taking in US$128.6 million.

Some wondered if Letters From Iwo Jima director Clint Eastwood, an Academy Award darling who’s won twice before, would spoil Scorsese’s chances for the second time in three years. He beat Scorsese for best director in 2005 with Million Dollar Baby, which triumphed over The Aviator.

“I voted for (Scorsese) back in the Raging Bull days as an academy member,” Eastwood said before the awards show. “Everybody thought that would be his moment. It still is one of his defining films.”

Aside from missing out on statuettes for The Aviator and Raging Bull, Scorsese also lost out for The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas, and Gangs of New York.

He also failed to win gold on two screenplay nominations – for Goodfellas and The Age of Innocence

If he had lost again he would have been the director with the most win-less nominations. Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman never won the award despite five nominations.

Here’s a look at Martin Scorsese’s illustrious filmmaking career, information courtesy IMDB:

The Departed (2006)*
*Won Best Director Oscar
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
The Aviator (2004)*
*Lost Best Director Oscar to Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby
Gangs of New York (2002)*
*Lost Best Director Oscar to Roman Polanski for The Pianist
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Kundun (1997)
Casino (1995)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Cape Fear (1991)
Goodfellas (1990)*
*Lost Best Director Oscar to Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)*
*Lost Best Director Oscar to Barry Levinson for Rain Man
The Color of Money (1986)
After Hours (1985)
The King of Comedy (1983)
Raging Bull (1980)*
*Lost Best Director Oscar to Robert Redford for Ordinary People
The Last Waltz (1978)
New York, New York (1977)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Italianamerican (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Boxcar Bertha (1972)
Street Scenes (1970)
I Call First (1967)
The Big Shave (1967)
It’s Not Just You, Murray! (1964)
What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963)
Vesuvius VI (1959)

Image Credit: Vince Bucci, Getty Images