Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month

A Personal Journey... Part 1
The first part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema.
Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
Overview
Film director Martin Scorsese considers the American cinema, divided into short chapters each looking at one aspect of American film, including: the studio system past and present; the question of narrative; technique - both technical and the development of visual literacy specific to films. He also looks at B-movies, films noirs, Westerns, gangster movies and musicals and some of the great figures in American cinema, from von Stroheim and Welles to Kubrick and Cassavetes.
Using as his starting point the film industry's perennial antagonism between art and commerce, Scorsese structures his journey in different chapters, starting with this antagonism which he styles the "Director's Dilemma". He examines strategies adopted by directors for dealing with the problem, first considering the primary role of the "Director as Storyteller", then highlighting the director as "Illusionist", "Smuggler" and "Iconoclast". Under these chapter headings, he features and analyses the works of filmmakers from D.W. Griffith and F.W. Murnau, Jacques Tourneur and Sam Fuller, John Cassavetes and Stanley Kubrick. Illustrated with numerous extracts from a wide range of films, including classics of the silent era (`Intolerance' and `The Crowd') and exemplars of the major American genres: westerns (from `The Searchers' to `Unforgiven'), musicals (Busby Berkeley to `All That Jazz') and gangster films (`Public Enemy' to `Point Blank'). Mould-breaking masterpieces are also saluted, including `Sunrise' `Citizen Kane' and `2001 - A Space Odyssey'.
Related

War and Peace War and Peace
Documentary 2002 134 mins Director: Anand Patwardhan
The rise of nuclear nationalism in 1990s India is explored in a powerful and personal documentary from Anand Patwardhan.

Sophia Loren: Reshaping Femininity Sophia Loren: Reshaping Femininity
Short documentary 2025 18 mins Director: Maha Albadrawi
Exclusive to BFI Player, a video essay exploring Sophia Loren’s 60s and 70s filmography, and how her work shook up Italian gender roles.

The Extraordinary Miss Flower The Extraordinary Miss Flower
Drama-documentary 2024 73 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Hugely creative biographical film full of charm and intrigue, uncovering the remarkable story of Geraldine Flower and a suitcase of love letters.

Jarv Is... Beyond the Pale: Live from the Centre of the Earth Jarv Is... Beyond the Pale: Live from the Centre of the Earth
Documentary 2020 51 mins Director: Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Jarvis Cocker performs live in a cave in this spectacular concert film captured by BAFTA-nominated filmmaking duo, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

2073 2073
Documentary 2024 83 mins Director: Asif Kapadia
Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia's unsettling drama-documentary delivers a powerful commentary on the state of the world today… and tomorrow.

The Echo The Echo
Documentary 2023 102 mins Director: Tatiana Huezo
Tatiana Huezo’s poetic documentary captures a holistic view of the rhythms of life in a remote Mexican village.

Pressure Pressure
Drama 1978 121 mins Director: Horace Ové
Hailed as Britain's first black feature film, Pressure is a hard-hitting, honest document of the plight of disenchanted black youths in 1970s London.

Nosferatu Nosferatu
Horror 1922 89 mins Silent Director: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.

Wings of Desire Wings of Desire
Fantasy 1987 128 mins Director: Wim Wenders
In director Wim Wenders' (Paris, Texas) most metaphysical work, a guardian angel desires nothing more than to be human.

Cléo from 5 to 7 Cléo from 5 to 7
Drama 1962 91 mins Director: Agnès Varda
Agnes Varda’s classic character study follows a pop singer as she wanders around Paris awaiting the results of serious medical tests.

Oldboy Oldboy
Thriller 2003 120 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park’s wilfully grotesque fable about an abductee trying to fathom the mysteries of his past.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Drama 1975 202 mins Director: Chantal Akerman
Chantal Akerman's magnificent epic of experimental cinema offering a feminist perspective on recurrent events of everyday life.

A Personal Journey… Part 3 A Personal Journey… Part 3
Documentary 1995 74 mins Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
The third part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema

A Personal Journey… Part 2 A Personal Journey… Part 2
Documentary 1995 79 mins Director: Martin Scorsese and Michael Henry Wilson
The second part of Martin Scorsese's 'personal journey' through American Cinema.

War and Peace War and Peace
Documentary 2002 134 mins Director: Anand Patwardhan
The rise of nuclear nationalism in 1990s India is explored in a powerful and personal documentary from Anand Patwardhan.

Traffic Traffic
Crime 2000 147 mins Director: Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning ensemble drama explores America’s war on drugs at the start of the 21st century.

Tell No One Tell No One
Crime 2006 131 mins Director: Guillaume Canet
A grieving man becomes convinced he is being framed for murder in Guillaume Canet’s gripping thriller, adapted from the Harlan Coben bestseller.

The Girl on a Motorcycle The Girl on a Motorcycle
Drama 1968 88 mins Director: Jack Cardiff
Marianne Faithfull is the eponymous girl in this glorious, richly colourful slice of sixties British cinema.

Sophia Loren: Reshaping Femininity Sophia Loren: Reshaping Femininity
Short documentary 2025 18 mins Director: Maha Albadrawi
Exclusive to BFI Player, a video essay exploring Sophia Loren’s 60s and 70s filmography, and how her work shook up Italian gender roles.

Diva Diva
Thriller 1981 117 mins Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
A postal worker’s secret opera recording sparks a gripping chase through Paris in Jean-Jacques Beineix’s (Betty Blue) stylish crime-thriller.