Martin Scorsese caused a storm yesterday when the American auteur joined Letterboxd, an app that movie watchers use to log movies they've watched. While the memes have been plentiful, it is wonderful to see Scorsese join another Gen Z-heavy app (the filmmaker made an appearance on his daughter Francesca Scorsese's TikTok to show how well he knows Gen Z lingo) because it shows that Scorsese knows how to stay relevant in the modern culture.

Now on Letterboxd, Scorsese has found his young audience and is taking the chance to share some wisdom and cinema history with them.

In a list created by the filmmaker titled "Companion Films," Scorsese writes, "I love the idea of putting different films together into one program. I grew up seeing double features, programs in repertory houses, [and] evenings of avant-garde films in storefront theatres. You always learn something, see something in a new light, because every movie is in conversation with every other movie. The greater the difference between the pictures, the better."

Scorsese continues writing, saying that he has been asked over the years to pair his films with the ones that inspired him. While he states that "inspiration" and "influence" are not accurate terms for this list he created, he does say that these companion films capture the spirit of his related projects.

Here is a slide show of companion films to Scorsese's filmography, created by the legend himself.

'Personality Crisis: One Night Only'

Throughout Scorsese's career, the filmmaker has made several music documentaries that capture the unique energy of his subjects both on and off the stage. For Personality Crisis, Scorsese wanted to approach David Johansen’s cabaret performances at the Café Carlyle in a way that felt reminiscent of 19th-century cabaret performances and bring the particular visual style of the “chanson réaliste” to the screen.

The companion film to Personality Crisis: One Night Only is Moulin Rouge (1952).

Credit: Mubi

'Moulin Rouge'

Source: Letterboxd