He ended up dropping out his first semester, and then attending New York University film school. At NYU, he made several student films that received praise from the school. One short film called Who’s That Knocking at My Door starred a young Harvey Keitel. Scorsese financed and made this film entirely by himself. He went on to making documentaries, and then was hired by producer Roger Corman and directed a low budget film, Boxcar Bertha. This opened the door to Hollywood productions (Friedman 31). In 1973, he made his first New York set film, Mean Streets which was a powerful portrayal of life in “Little Italy.” This film showed the talent he possessed as well as started a relationship with actor Robert DeNiro who would star in eight more Scorsese films (Friedman 47).Scorsese’s next film was Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1975 which was a big popular success. The following year, he made one of his best films, Taxi Driver, a disturbing story of a loner cab driver who goes on a mission to clean up the streets. The film received worldwide recognition, and Scorsese moved into a place as an elite director (Friedman 59).Scorsese moved on and made the musical New York, New York that was a tribute to the 40’s and 50’s musicals that Scorsese grew up enjoying. Scorsese’s next work was a documentary The Last Waltz in 1978 that is considered to be the best concert movie ever made (Friedman 63).After changing pace, Scorsese returned to his roots, and directed one of his greatest works, Raging Bull. Which is a story of boxier Jake LaMotta portrayed by Robert DeNiro. Scorsese received a nomination for best director, and DeNiro playing the part of a lifetime won the Oscar for best actor. DeNiro gained sixty pounds to fit LaMotta in his older days. The film today still ranks as one of the best ever. It is ranks in the top twenty-five films on the American Film Institution’s list of the one hundr...
