Il mio viaggio in Italia

If Martin Scorsese never made another movie (heaven forbid), he could unquestionably sustain a career as one of the greatestever teachers of film. This is an epic masterclass on how to watch films, how to interpret a director’s intentions, how to enjoy cinema (there is a marvellous digression in which Scorsese freezes the action to reveal the fleeting sublety of an actor’s comic timing). But this is more than a brilliantly entertaining tutorial. A follow up to the director’s Personal Journey Through American Movies (1995), Il mio viaggio in Italia takes Scorsese and us back to Italy, to his Sicillian roots. (‘My grandparents were Sicilian emigrants who were barely literate in Italian. So it was through Italian films that I actually began to discover my family.’) There we are treated to an impassioned, analytical tour of modern Italian cinema, from the Neorealist revolution wrought by Visconti and Rossellini, via De Sica and Antonioni, up to Fellini’s Otto e Mezo (yes, there’s more, much more to come). Made in 35mm, with generous film extracts from no less than 30 titles that also elucidate on Scorsese’s own aesthetics, it’s a moving and enthralling exercise. Not only one of the longest, but also one of the most passionate arguments made for film culture. (Clyde Jeavons)