Themes

Silence Goodfellas Taxi Driver

Religion Religion Religion
Faith Greed Self Hatred
Belief Material objects Belonging
Purpose Purpose Purpose
Oppression Respect Morality
Tradition Loyalty Duality
Mental suffering Betrayal Mental Suffering (Health)
Physical suffering Addiction Addiction
Duty Manipulation Duty
Sacrifice Glorifying violence Violence
Dedication Glorifying crime Dedication
Cultural differences Idols PTSD
Fortitude Desensitization Loneliness
Strength Lust
Relationships Relationships Relationship
Set over a long time period Set over a long time Set over a long time period
period
Non linear Non linear
Red, (colour) Red, (colour)
New York New York
Revenge Revenge
Sin Sin
Western Homage Western Homage
Techniques
Silence Goodfellas
Narration Narration Narration
Match cuts
Silence Freeze frame Silence
Cut-aways L-cuts
Inserts Inserts Inserts
Long takes Long takes Long takes
Point of view Point of view Point of view
Slow mo Slow mo Slow mo
Fog Fog Fog
Close ups Close ups Long zooms
Overhead Overhead Overhead
Hand Held Hand Held Hand Held

Themes, which appear in all three of the films

Themes, which appear in two of the films

Martin Scorsese is one of the great examples of auteurs in cinema. He has created
many great works over his dacades long career. I have analyised three of his
films. All three are form different eras of his career, but you can still see the
similar themes and techniques he employs. Scorsese often explores the themes
of purpose, religion and relationships in his films. He explores these three
themes in different ways in each of the films. In Silence, he shows that the padres
have a strong purpose in their lives, to spred Christianity and to find Father
Ferreria. He depicts relationships through the padres relationship with God,
their relationship with the japanese converts and with themselves. Religoion is a
clear theme in Silence due to the plot of the film involing catholic preists.
Religion is the core of the film, however it is not just religion in spirtiual way, it is
also the strands which come from religion such as belief and faith. Belief an faith
is what keeps father father Rodriguez going when he is at his lowest. During
Goodfellas, Scorsese shows the theme of purpose through Henry and how he
enjoys the mob life. He depicts henry as loving the respect, the money and the
power which comes form being a member of the mob. Henrys dedication to the
mob since he was young shows that he has found belonging within the mob. This
sense of belonging is what gives Henry his purpose at the start of the film.
However, his purpose changes throughout the film, form the mob, then to
himself. He shows the relationships between Henry and the people throughout
his life, through the highs and the lows. He also shows us Henrys ever more
complex relationships with the women in his life. Henrys relationships evolve
throughout the film. He goes form seeing Paulie as a father figure, to going
behind his back selling drugs and then ratting him out. His relatioships with
Jimmy and Tommy also follow a similar path. Religion is an underlining theme in
Goodfellas. The characters in the film clame to be religious, wareing crosses and
religious symbols. However their actions are anything but religious. This shows
that religion is there, but it is just not acknowleged. In Taxi Driver, Scorsese
illustrates the themeof purpose by showing how Travis is constanly looking for
purpose, even lying to himself to convince himself of his purpose. Traviss
relationships are shown in a very distant manor. This is because of Travis and his
dislike of people. His relationships with people are distorted and never seem to
be true. The same goes for Traviss relationship with himself. He is always being
contradictory and, tying in with his struggle with purpose, he doesnt know what
his end goal is and where he is headed. Similar to in Goodfellas, religion is an
underlining theme. It is not explicitly discussed in the film and no character
seems to be religious (perhaps it is implied that Travis is religious due him
calling himself Gods lonely man). However, the way in which Travis prepares
himself for his plan seems very ritualistic. This ritual of sharpening his knife,
prepping his guns, cleaning his boots and burning the flowers, mirrors a
religious ceremony. This process can be equated to Travis baptising himself.
Along with the similar themes in these three films, Scorsese uses the same
techniques when creating his work. He is well known for his use of slow mo,
narration and long takes. All of his common techniques are employed in different
ways to fit the tone and style of the film. Martin Scorsese is undoubtedly an film
auteur. Over his fifty year long career, Scorsese has clearly shown that he
incorporates the same themes and techniques from film to film. He explores
these themes differently in each one of films. He constantly finds different angles
to explore these themes from Taxi Driver in 1976 to Silence forty years later.