According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Martin Scorsese recently addressed the criticism that many of his films don’t properly employ female actresses. The iconic director said at Rome Fest this weekend, “If the story doesn’t call for it, it’s a waste of everybody’s time.”

Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, Martin presented The Irishman at the Rome Film Festival on Monday alongside his producer, Emma Tillinger Koskoff. The movie revolves around one of the most famous assassinations of all time, the alleged murder and disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa.

Martin, before the crowd, claimed his latest film was about how life can suddenly “unravel,” in addition to the “immediate human experience,” which he hopes anyone could relate to. Moreover, the director discussed his widely criticized comments regarding the uncinematic nature of Marvel films.

Previously, during an interview with Empire Magazine, Mr. Scorsese stated that the movies failed to effectively communicate the experience of a human being to another. While at Rome Fest, Martin continued in the same vein, even criticizing some of the major studios for relying on comic book movies so much.

Martin said he hopes that sometime in the future, studios will continue to support narrative cinema, including from works such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, as well as Noam Baumbach. Martin went on to also criticize the generation of youth who “fail to understand” the repercussions of historical occurrences.

However, it appears as though Martin may be out of luck because the success of comic book movies ensures they’ll continue to be released and supported by major studios. Martin added that it was “sad” because he believes that many people don’t even know who Jimmy Hoffa was.

Regarding the social media culture we all find ourselves in, Martin stated that “there seems to be no continuity of history,” after saying that the youth are consuming information in much smaller parts, rather than as a whole.

Advertisement

Additionally, and as it was noted above, Martin was questioned about the lack of female characters in his movies, which he addressed by arguing that if his story warranted a female character, he would write them in, but for The Irishman, it simply wasn’t necessary.