Casino

I have no trouble recognizing the genius of Martin Scorsese. He is one of the few auteurs with a style that I can immediately sense. I'm unsure whether it's the same style I'm sensing in each film, but each time I view one of his films I see something that makes me go "oh!". For instance, in this film, instead of cutting out scenes that viewers can infer happened, which is a tried and true method for most filmmakers, he fades some of the infer-able scenes into each other, giving the illusion of movement. An example: a couple of guys are driving somewhere. We see them get in the car, which then fades into the car moving down the road, which ultimately fades into them getting out of the car at their destination. It's quite noticeable, and it always makes me grin because it shows he never stops thinking about how his technique intertwines with the story he's creating and the effect that will have on the viewer. He also does this with music. You'll notice yourself noticing the "background" music in this film (in quotes because it's a character in its own right). Why he's not widely recognized for his genius is a great question, but it may be a combination of the type of story he likes to tell and that he never shoots what are considered mainstream films (Gangs of New York may have been the closest he will ever get). Now, I really liked Goodfellas and Taxi Driver and Gangs of New York as well as this film because he knows how to bring complex characters and moral issues to life, but his films can often be hard to watch. The themes are highly disturbing, focused as they are on violence, mobs or deranged characters. In Casino (your basic Las Vegas mob film), I found myself looking away from the screen at times, which I almost never do. I mean, how does Thelma Schoonmaker edit some of these scenes without wanting to throw up? I was more disturbed by the violence in Casino than in Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, which is saying a lot. I suppose being disturbed isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it makes the film stick with you, but I have to wonder at his obsession with these themes.

year: 1995
length: 178 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112641/combined