Portrait: Martin Scorsese

Doubtless one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, the iconic body of work belonging to movie director Martin Scorsese goes under the spotlight in this six night extravaganza. The season begins on Friday with one of the greatest gangster movies of all time, the sprawling 'Goodfellas' (1990). On Saturday there's a double bill. In 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' (1974), Scorsese unusually has a female lead actress, but in 'Taxi Driver' (1976), which starts at 9pm, we get the unforgettable and disturbing all male performance of Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle. On Sunday, 'New York, New York' (1977) sees Robert De Niro return, this time alongside Liza Minnelli, in a musical which was Scorcese's big budget debut. It flopped at the time of release, but is now highly regarded in reassessment. Beautifully shot boxing epic 'Raging Bull' (1980) begins Monday's double bill, before we jump back to 1967 for Scorsese's feature length debut, the black and white 'Who's That Knocking At My Door?' which stars his frequent future collaborators Harvey Keitel and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. On Tuesday, the almost hallucinogenic depiction of Jesus in 'The Last Temptation of Christ' (1988), a film which was highly controversial upon release. On Wednesday, the portrait draws to a close with another double bill. First up, the first of Scorsese's classic gangster yarns in 'Mean Streets' (1973). It is followed by another of Scorsese's films that failed at the time of release but has since gone on to be regarded by many as one of his greatest works, 'The King of Comedy' (1982), in which De Niro also stars.