Martin Scorsese, one of the most celebrated directors of all time, has revealed that he can no longer watch movies in cinemas due to the behaviour of other people, and fans agree with him.
The 82-year-old, responsible for classics such as Taxi Driver (1976), Goodfellas (1990) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), has abandoned the cinema-going experience as he can no longer tolerate the noise that others make and the distracting glare of phone screens.
Speaking to film critic Pete Travers on his blog, The Travers Take, Scorsese was asked about his aversion to theatres.
“I asked the maestro why he doesn't see movies in theatres anymore and he went all raging bull about audiences who babble on phones during the movie, leave to order snacks and vats of soda, and keep up a noise level loud enough to drown out the actors,” Travers writes.
However, Travers challenged Scorsese on this, claiming that people have always talked in the cinema and that he was probably guilty of doing the same when he was younger.
“‘Come on, Marty,’ I said, ‘we couldn't keep our mouths shut when we were kids,’” adds Travers. “His [Scorsese’s] eyes darkened. ‘Yeah, maybe,’ he conceded, ‘but when we talked it was always about the movie and the fun we had chewing over the details.’”
Scorsese’s comments have since gone viral, and many fans agree with his grievance.
“He’s right. You seriously can’t go five minutes in a theatre without seeing a phone light up somewhere in your theatre, it’s so annoying,” said one fan.
Another added: “Sadly 100 per cent correct, baffles me forever that people pay 15+ quid then sit on Snapchat/Instagram reels with no audio? Strange, annoying, pure ruining it.”
"Marty is right. Theatre etiquette is at an all-time low," a third person said.
A fourth fan joked: “Look what you did you animals, you ruined the movie experience for the pope of movies. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”
Meanwhile, Scorsese is set to produce a documentary featuring a series of conversations between the late Pope Francis and the director, as well as the pontiff’s last on-camera interview.
Titled Aldeas – A New Story, the documentary is also being produced by the film production company of Scholas Occurrentes, an international non-profit organisation founded by Pope Francis in 2013.
The subject of the documentary is a cinema programme named Aldeas, which will focus on the late pope’s interest in cinema, education, and community building as “not only a means of expression but a path to hope and transformation”. The documentary will reportedly show young people in Indonesia, Gambia, and Italy who are part of the programme and their journey making short films.
