"Silence" is Shorter, Still Possibly Golden
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 7:00PM 
a new image from the film - our first look at Adam Driver
In very good news for butts of all shapes and sizes, news came this morning that Martin Scorsese's Silence is no longer going to be his longest feature film ever. That dubious honor will continue to be held by the excruciatingly long winded duo of Casino and Wolf of Wall Street. It seems that Marty and his trusted editor Thelma Schoonmaker have whittled away some 22 minutes from the earlier reported running time of 3 hours and 1 minute (or thereabouts)...
Scorsese has become more and more longwinded over the years as you'll see in this handy list below. It's a shame too because if 2 hours and 9 minutes is enough for Raging Bull of all epic things it's enough for the others, you know? Hugo is the only film the prolific Scorsese has made in our current century that clocks in at less than 2¼ hours and even at 2 hours and 6 minutes it feels bloated. Even a Scorsese we love like New York New York (1977) would surely be better remembered and possibly even beloved today if it were much tighter.
Scorsese's 24 in Ascending Order from Reasonably Sized To Way Too Long...
My three very favorite Scorseses are in bold just because
- Boxcar Bertha (1972) 1h 28min
- Who's That Knocking At My Door (1967) 1h 30min
- After Hours (1985) 1h 37min
- King of Comedy (1983) 1h 49min
- Mean Streets (1973) 1h 52min
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) 1h 52 min - Taxi Driver (1976) 1h 53 min
- The Color of Money (1986) 1h 59min
- Bringing Out the Dead (1999) 2h 1min
- Hugo (2010) 2h 6min
- Cape Fear (1991) 2h 8min
- Raging Bull (1981) 2h 9 min
- Kundun (1997) 2h 14min
the ass challengers - all over 2¼ hours - Shutter Island (2010) 2h 18min
- The Age of Innocence (1993) 2h 19min
- Goodfellas (1990) 2h 26min
- The Departed (2006) 2h 31min
- New York New York (1977) 2h 35min
- Silence (2016) 2hr 39 min
- The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) 2h 44min
- Gangs of New York (2002) 2h 47min
- The Aviator (2004) 2h 50min
- Casino (1995) 2h 58min -Least favorite Scorsese
- Wolf of Wall Street (2013) 3h
In other fresh news about the picture, we had long wondered who the costume designer was since no one had previously been announced and Sandy Powell wasn't reported to be working on it (as she usually does). As it turns out, Marty's frequent production designer Dante Ferretti pulled double duty this time, also doing the costumes. It's his first costume design gig since the time he pulled double duty on Scorsese's Kundun (Oscar rewarded Ferretti with double nominations that year for his trouble. Will they do that again.)
I guess it's time to update the Oscar charts yet again?
Reader Comments (29)
Even a Scorsese we love like New York New York (1977) would surely be better remembered and possibly even beloved today if it were much tighter.
There are (at least) three versions: the original release was 2h 35min; the full-length DVD version is 2h 43min (including the "Happy Endings" number); and the butchered post-release edit was 2h 16min.
I personally wish it were four hours long, with more full-length musical numbers.
Three hours and 1 minute sounds a bit of self indulgence
Nat: Casino? Mine's Age of Innocence, for how sloppy (especially the last shot) and boring a lot of it is (it's very hard to make "guarded" people engaging, and an entire society of guarded people is doubly so), closely followed by Gangs of New York and how it proves that the Shaggy Dog formula doesn't work when you're already almost pushing 3 hours. Casino, meanwhile? That one's at least passionate and realizes a long movie needs a conventionally satisfying conclusion. And, yes, Hugo could, and probably should, have shaved 15-20 minutes off that run time.
The Wolf of Wall Street I felt wasn't long enough. I wanted more of the mayhem.
Explain your apathy towards Casino. I love Marty's Universal trilogy: The Last Temptation of Christ, Cape Fear, and Casino. Barbara Hershey, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Illeana Douglas, and Sharon Stone.
The Wolf of Wall Street should've shaved three hours off its run-time
Volvagia - I don't know you, I think we've even had disagreements in these forums, but I love you right at this moment!
I am also extremely underwhelmed by the tedious AGE OF INNOCENCE, and constantly get eye-rolls from fellow cinephiles when I say so. I remember at some stage in the movie wanting to just stand up in the cinema and shout "HE LIKES YOU! YOU LIKE HIM! JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY!"
(I do like GONY though, so we are back to disagreeing there.....)
I dunno, for me personally, Gangs of New York and The Aviator are absolute chores to get through. But The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo, and The Wolf of Wall Street? Not so much. Speaking of the latter, since that movie was compared a lot to American Hustle 3 years ago, it's interesting how at nearly 3 hours it didn't feel nearly as long as Hustle did to me.
The Aviator is only watchable when K Hepburn (Bless U, Cate!!) is on...once she disappears in the 2nd half, it totally goes self-indulgently looooooong.
Actually all movie should not exceed 2 hrs, it really a severe test o patience unless if it is v good, the extra mins to hours shld be reserved for the DVD deluxe version for fans....there's a reason for the Director's Cut version...u know....lol
I adore Casino. But I also get a kick out of cable and broadcast trying to censor that movie. As mentioned by others, I can't get through Gangs of New York. It is just a terrible movie that hype propelled to the Oscars. But then people saw it and it went home empty handed.
Also I agree with Claran about Cate/Kate in The Aviator. After she leaves and it is just Leo and jars of pee for 30 mintues, I couldn't take anymore.
Age of Innocence haters.
(Eyeroll.)
Cate is terrible in The Aviator though.
Hugo is so under appreciated! I love it so much. Makes me sad how it's barely talked about in a positive light.
The fact that he hasn't made a movie less than 2 hours in 30 years is insane right?
Gangs of New York should have swept the Razzies. Cape Fear isn't much better.
Casino is terrific and the length is just fine thank you very much.
Wolf of Wall Street is also very good but I agree overlong.
Helen: I love Hugo too! One of Scorsese's very best. I do think it could have been tighter in places - but I still really enjoy it. It's a genuine adventure story, in that, from how it begins, it's impossible to imagine how it will develop. It even feels that way on repeated viewings! I also think that visually and aurally it is technically astounding. I didn't know Scorsese had a film like Hugo in him. Definitely up there with Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The King of Comedy for me.
Cate is fabulous as K. Hepburn, come on. It's an impossible character to deliver and she just shines
I couldn't make it past the first twenty minutes of Hugo, so I can't imagine what it would be like to endure the entire movie at that length.
As terrible and repetitive as The Wolf of Wall Street is (how many scenes of hookers and drugs did we need?), I will admit that it breezes by despite its long run time.
I was fully absorbed in both Hugo and The Wolf of Wall Street. Didn't notice the time at all. Loved them both.
After Hours is tight and short and strange and quick. Definitely his most underrated work, and maybe my favorite of his.
People were walking out of the screening of TWOWS, and it wasn't because of the running time. "Mayhem", lol!
Stone in Casino and Lange in Cape Fear two of his very best angry women,I don't think Lange is spoken of enough in regards to Cape Fear nor Stone in Casino.
I always have wondered if Stone would have gone Supporting would she have beat Sorvino and won? I think she would have or at least come close. Her role in Casino is definitely supporting in my opinion.
Stone would have won in supporting, and that would make room for Julianne Moore in Safe, the best actress of that year after Streep.
That would have avoided a lot of Oscar mistakes:
Streep wouldn't have won her third Oscar over Viola.
Moore would have momentum to win for Boogie Nights.
Sorvino wouldn't have an Oscar.
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