“You just spent a year of your life making this piece of shit.” 53 years ago, a legendary filmmaker said one sentence that changed Martin Scorsese's fate

The new documentary about Martin Scorsese from Apple TV, titled Mr. Scorsese, contains many anecdotes from the filmmaker's life, delving deep into his past. It reminds us that the beginnings of his career weren’t easy, and that he didn’t start out as a cinematic genius, having his ups and downs.

Before Scorsese released the brilliant Taxi Driver, he had previously made the romantic crime drama Boxcar Bertha. The film was commissioned by Roger Corman, who became famous for making low-budget knockoffs of hits, and this film was no different, inspired by the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. The production was important to Scorsese, who put a lot of effort into completing the project despite the low budget, which required him to make a lot of cuts.

Unfortunately, although Martin Scorsese himself felt that he had reached an important milestone, he didn’t meet with enthusiasm from his friends, who didn’t like Boxcar Bertha. As the filmmaker confessed, “for them, it was as if he had caught a disease.” It was difficult for him to take on his dream collaborations, as Boxcar Bertha was like a blemish on his filmography.

In the documentary, Martin Scorsese mentioned his meeting with American independent cinema icon John Cassavetes. After watching Boxcar Bertha, Cassavetes approached Scorsese and said something that stayed with him for the rest of his life and completely changed the course of his life.

And Scorsese took his advice, never working with Corman again, nor creating such for-hire projects. And, following the advice of the icon of indie cinema, he set to work on his dream project, Mean Streets.

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