1964 Directed by Martin Scorsese
Now middle-aged, mobster Murray looks back at his humble beginnings as a bootlegger and his rise to becoming wealthy and highly influential. Through it he talks about how much of his success and happiness is due to the support of his "friend" Joe. Unfortunately the only one who blindly believes Joe is anything close to a friend is Murray, because it's obvious to everyone that Joe back-stabs him at every chance and is sleeping with his wife.
那不仅是你，穆瑞！, 너 아니라고, 머레이, Samassa veneessä ollaan, Murray!
USA
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/15/archives/film-sticky-my-fingers-and-4-other-early-worksthe-program.html
USA
Audios not even synced at one part. Fucking Amateur. This guys never gonna make it
Genuinely upsetting that Scorsese was already throwing heat like this in film school. If I had seen this in film school I would have dropped out of film school. Just given up and done something else with my life.
A highly accomplished student film by Scorsese that establishes one of the director’s major themes while giving a nice glimpse into the influences that shaped him.
Specifically, the theme is the Criminal Life, and the influences range from the French New Wave (particularly Truffaut; I was reminded of both Shoot the Piano Player and Jules and Jim), classical American cinema (the movie both spoofs and pays hommage to the gangster film, and there’s also a musical number looking forward to New York, New York), a hint of Cassavetes (through smallness of scale and ruggedness of approach, but also through the looseness actor Ira Rubin employs in shaping the title role) and a not so subtle (but likeable) Fellini reference.
Interestingly,…
Scorsese doesn’t get enough credit for how funny his works often are. This is such a pure and gleeful encapsulation of young Marty giving us fast-paced and comedic spin on a gangster tale with a Felini tribute tossed in.
Early flourish showing promise of later works — the messy bar-room brawl of Mean Streets or the fourth-wall breaking sections of The Wolf of Wall Street springing to mind. Of course, it’s slightly rough around the edges, but not nearly enough to stunt the sheer ingenuity on display; musical numbers, astounding comic timing and kaleidoscopic visual trickery all leading to a lovingly rendered 8 1/2 tribute, proving that even by his second short film, Marty was already a modern master in his own right.
Student films would be so much more watchable if they all starred Catherine Scorsese.
What can now be defined as Martin Scorsese’s first leap into mafia themed films — this student film made at New York University in 1964 was the aspiring directors third attempt at filmmaking, taking a Felini-esque approach to his cinematography. The short follows the reflected life of Murray, a bootlegging con man with an itch to hustle. The story documents the rise and fall of Murray’s fast living ways as he and his partner in crime — Joe — fearlessly run their bootlegging operation. As we see Murray fall from rags to riches the theme of betrayal runs rampant, and we find meaning in the old philosophy that there truly is no honor among thieves. This story fell very close…
After watching some of Scorses's shorts, I've started to love him and his work even more. There's something about his earlier work that fascinates me so much. He seemed so well developed as a filmmaker so early on.
You can clearly see that Wes Anderson was somewhat influenced by this. There were so many different shots and edits that made it feel like a film by him. Also, gotta love that 8 1/2 reference at the end.
Saturday Night Shorts: Film 137
Murray is a wealthy gangster. This is the tale of how him and his "friend" Joe got to where they are in his own words.
Yesterday I reviewed The Big Shave and enjoyed it. In the comments section for that review fellow Letterboxd user David Bates recommended that I check out It’s Not Just You, Murray! Here it goes!
It’s Not Just You, Murray! is an early student film directed by Martin Scorsese in his NYU film school days. It went on to win the Edward L. Kingsley Filmmaker award in 1964 and I can totally understand why. It's an excellent combination of crime, humor, deceit, violence, and a man's ego on full display. I…
Filled with some of the offbeat charm typically reminiscent of the works of other prominent New York based filmmakers of the time — i.e. Robert Downey Sr. — this short sets the stage for the decades of Scorsese’s career to follow: a portrait of America, a culture blinded by greed tethered to capitalism, where "success" is tainted by unethical living, crime, misogyny, dishonesty, and illusions of what the good life looks like. The influence of Fellini is center stage in this one, stamped by the elegant and obvious homage to 8 1/2 (1963) in the closing scene, but also notable is the form’s inspiration from I Vitelloni (1953), which can be tracked and be noticed in many of Scorsese’s major works that came later. The thematic and stylistic marks that would later define Scorsese’s cinema are all here.
