{"id":467185,"date":"2025-10-02T01:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T01:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/467185\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T01:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T01:09:13","slug":"martin-scorsese-reveals-his-50-favourite-british-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/467185\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Scorsese reveals his 50 favourite British movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Martin<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ TCM \/ Original Promo)<\/p>\n

Wed 1 October 2025 19:56, UK <\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much about filmmaking that Martin Scorsese doesn\u2019t know. So, it\u2019s only right that even the premier filmmakers of the day look up to the director as a professor of cinema. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a moniker that has followed him for some time as he not only possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of cinema\u2019s history but is also happy to share it whenever he can. That\u2019s precisely what happened when acclaimed filmmaker Edgar Wright got in touch with Scorsese to ask for a list of his favourite British films.<\/p>\n

Wright had reached out to the director after trying to work his way through the acclaimed list of 39 foreign films<\/a> Scorsese said every filmmaker should watch. Wright spoke on The Empire Film Podcast with Quentin Tarantino when he confessed that he had only seen \u201cabout 20\u201d of the 39 films mentioned in Scorsese\u2019s list. With the Covid lockdown ruling out any work on his own projects, Wright, like the rest of us, sat down and created an epic watch list for himself.<\/p>\n

The podcast is the stuff movie dreams are made of. It sees Tarantino and Wright sit down and geek out about all things cinema. Whether it\u2019s the palpable audience reaction to their favourite subversive cinema moments or the annoyance of streaming sites cutting off the credits of films, the two directors genuinely engage about their love of film. During the conversation, Wright mentions the famous list Martin Scorsese once drew up for a lucky student who had won the chance to meet and interview the director.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, the young filmmaker Colin Levy spent hours in the editing room of his high school, completing his five-minute short film, which would go on to win him the national Young Arts award. The prize for winning such an award was a sit-down one-on-one meeting with the Taxi Driver and Raging Bull filmmaker.<\/a><\/p>\n

Remembering the moment, Levy wrote an article on his blog, describing it as: \u201cIt was a defining moment in my path as a filmmaker,\u201d while admitting that the personal tour of Scorsese\u2019s office, editing bays, and more came as a huge shock to the system. \u201cMartin Scorsese was intimidating, to say the least. But very jovial, very talkative, and he took me seriously. (Or convinced me, at least.) I pretty much kept my mouth shut,\u201d Levy continued to explain in his blog post.<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/a>Martin Scorsese has always been open about his favourite films. (Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was in a movie,\u201d continued Levy. \u201cWhy he spent so much time with me I do not know, but it was amazing just to be in his presence. A few weeks afterwards I laboured over a thank-you card, in which I expressed the overwhelming impression I had gotten that I don\u2019t know enough about anything. I especially don\u2019t know enough about film history and foreign cinema. I asked if he had any suggestions for where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scorsese responded with the list of 39 foreign films that would make up the base of education in cinema. It was a story that caught Wright\u2019s attention and demanded he, an acclaimed director himself, should at least complete the module now set out by Scorsese. It led to Wright not only catching the films on his home screen but also trawling through YouTube to find Scorsese\u2019s thoughts on each film. Something which, thanks to the aforementioned encyclopaedic knowledge, comes easy for the Goodfellas creator.<\/p>\n

After such a lengthy and hearty lesson in the great and the good of foreign cinema, Wright thought it only right that he reach out to Scorsese to share his appreciation. What he perhaps didn\u2019t intend to receive was not only a warm thanks and recognition of his appreciation but also, after a nudge, another list of films for Wright to make his way through \u2013 this time focusing only on British cinema.<\/p>\n

Noted down by Tom Davidson<\/a>, we now have a complete list of Martin Scorsese\u2019s favourite British movies, and it makes for an essential list for any budding filmmaker. There are some giant titles missed off in the list, but that\u2019s only because of the company at hand, meaning Scorsese is well aware that Edgar Wright needs no introduction to the Ealing Comedies, for example, and he \u201cassumes\u201d he has already seen most of the big hitters. <\/p>\n

So while it isn\u2019t the most robust list of British films, it is a list that will challenge any filmmaker. You can listen to the full podcast below.<\/p>\n

Martin Scorsese\u2019s 50 favourite British movies:<\/p>\n