Martin Scorsese: ‘I’m Always Sort of Against’ Lists of 10 Best Movies

A lot of articles exist on the internet listing the movies Martin Scorsese considers to be the best films of all time, but he’s not actually in favor of such rankings. Speaking to Time magazine for a video interview (see below), the “Taxi Driver” and “The Departed” icon said he is generally against top 10 best lists.

“I’ve tried to make lists over the years of films I personally feel are my favorites, whatever that means,” Scorsese said. “And then you find out that the word ‘favorite’ has different levels: Films that have impressed you the most, as opposed to films you just like to keep watching, as opposed to those you keep watching and learning from, or experiencing anew. So, they’re varied.And I’m always sort of against ’10 best’ lists.”

Scorsese gathered his favorite films into a list as recently as last December, when he participated in Sight and Sound’s poll of the best movies ever made. The director’s individual list included 15 movies: “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “8 and 1/2,” “Ashes and Diamonds, “Citizen Kane,” “Diary of a Country Priest,” “Ikiru,” “The Leopard,” “Ordet,” “Paisa,” “The Red Shoes,” “The River,” “Salvatore Giuliano,” “The Searchers” and “Ugetsu.”

“Well yes, there’s ‘Citizen Kane,’” Scorsese told Time. “That changed my life. He broke all of the rules. One of the things that [Orson] Welles said was one of the best things you can bring to filmmaking is ignorance. When they say you can’t do this, why not?”

Scorsese’s latest directorial effort, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” open in theaters Oct. 20 from Apple and Paramount. It will most likely find itself on many top 10 lists come the end of 2023.