Before Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese introduced himself with Who’s That Knocking on My Door? – a rough, experimental film that already hinted at his signature style. Harvey Keitel stars as J.R., an Italian American drifting between street life with his friends and a fragile romance, and even in this small story, you can see Scorsese’s fascination with faith, guilt, and identity. The dialogue is raw, the pacing uneven, but the energy is unmistakable: static long shots give way to sudden cuts and restless tracking, techniques he would refine over decades. | © Trimod Films
With Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro created one of the most haunting portraits of loneliness ever put to screen. Travis Bickle drifts through New York City’s neon-lit streets, his isolation growing until it erupts into violence. Paul Schrader’s script refuses easy character development, instead presenting Travis as a static but unraveling figure whose thoughts get darker with each ride. Backed by Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and a chilling Bernard Herrmann score, the film remains a visceral study of the disaffected mind – a story that feels just as unsettling today as it did in 1976. | © Columbia Pictures
Scorsese’s Raging Bull is less a boxing film than a brutal character study of Jake LaMotta, played with frightening intensity by Robert De Niro. Shot in stark black and white, the film strips away glamour to show a man whose violence in the ring mirrors his paranoia and abuse at home. De Niro’s physical transformation and Joe Pesci’s fiery performance as Jake’s brother give the story its raw, lived-in texture. It’s one of Scorsese’s darkest works – an unflinching portrait of self-destruction that still feels devastatingly honest. | © United Artists
With Goodfellas, Scorsese turns the rise and fall of Henry Hill into one of the most electrifying crime stories ever filmed. Ray Liotta’s wide-eyed narration pulls us into a world where gangsters are idols, while Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci deliver unforgettable turns as men consumed by loyalty and violence. Every detail – from the soundtrack to the whip-fast editing – feels perfectly timed, making the film both stylish and brutally grounded. It’s Scorsese at the height of his powers, blending art and entertainment in a way few directors ever achieve. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
The Departed finally earned Scorsese his long-overdue Oscar, and it’s easy to see why. Set in Boston’s Irish mob scene, the story follows Leonardo DiCaprio’s undercover cop and Matt Damon’s mole in the police, both caught in a tense game where discovery means death. Jack Nicholson looms large as the ruthless Frank Costello, while Mark Wahlberg fires off some of the film’s sharpest lines. Brutal, funny, and unpredictable, it’s a thriller that shows Scorsese can make crime stories feel fresh even after decades of mastering the genre. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
With The Irishman, Scorsese revisits the crime epic but filters it through age and regret. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci give restrained, lived-in performances, their presence carrying the weight of decades in the business. The film’s meticulous period detail – from wardrobe to set design – grounds the sprawling story of power and betrayal. At over three hours, it’s not about the rush of violence but the slow reckoning that comes when a life of crime leaves you with nothing but memories. | © Netflix
Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon tells the chilling true story of the Osage Nation, whose oil wealth in 1920s Oklahoma made them targets of calculated violence. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, torn between love and complicity, while Lily Gladstone delivers a quietly devastating performance as Mollie Kyle. Robert De Niro is equally unforgettable as William Hale, a manipulative patriarch whose charm hides ruthless ambition. Long and deliberate, the film is both a crime saga and a searing reflection on America’s history of exploitation. | © Paramount Pictures
For more than half a century, Martin Scorsese has redefined what cinema can do. Each decade of his career has delivered at least one film that stands above the rest, capturing both his signature style and his constant search for new ways to tell stories.
