Mardik Martin, an Armenian living in Iraq with his wealthy parents, was shipped over to NY in the 1950’s to avoid being conscripted in the Army. Ostensibly he was to go to University here to learn business studies but soon after his arrival there was a Revolution back home and his father was no longer able to send your Mardik any funds. School by day to learn English then any jobs he could find in a restaurant ranging from dishwasher to waiter to pay by his studies and keep a roof over his head. Now independent he decided to forsake his father’s choice of studies and enroll to learn about the one thing he was passionate about i.e. Movies. As a student at New York University’s Tisch school he met fellow classmate Martin Scorsese and the two very quickly became fast friends. The fact that they were both from different cultures was part of the bond, and Martin was soon ‘adopted’ by the Scorsese family as another son.
The collaboration between these two film school students started on a modest documentary called ‘Italianamerican’ about the Scorsese family but what set the partnership alight was then they both worked on the script of ‘Mean Script’ together. When the Scorsese directed movie was released in 1973 it was universally hailed as ‘one of the most original American movies of all time’ it also touch-lit the careers of all those involved.
For Martin it meant co-writing the script for more of Scorsese’s major hits such as ‘New York New York’ in 1977 and then being the author of the first three drafts of ‘Raging Bull’ in 1980 which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. By the Martin had moved to Hollywood and had become a Studio staff writer, and also in 1977 he wrote the Ken Russell movie ‘Valentino’ which fizzled at the Box Office. His last project with Scorsese was the treatment he wrote for the music movie ‘The Last Waltz’.
And then as quick as his success had arrived, so too did it leave him. With his pal Scorsese working in NY far away Martin looked for other projects to do and which none of them ever seemed to get green-lit. With the arrival of big blockbuster movies in Hollywood such as ‘Star Wars’ with all its high ended technology, Martin’s writing style seemed out of place. And with gigs that he did get …. such as writing ‘Carlito’s Way’ for Al Pacino …. he blew it away by insensitively criticizing the great star’s other movies.
Martin had always moved with a fast crowd that worked and partied for days at a stretch without an ounce of sleep. Now with work out of the frame, there was only partying left, and his love of that and an addiction to cocaine in the 1980’s saw him lose his grand house in the Hollywood Hills and the life that went with it too.
This enlightening documentary of a very affable and charming man doesn’t shirk from glossing over the lows of Martin’s story, although luckily for us …. and more so for Martin …. there is a very happy ending to this tale. When he had first earned his Masters Degree in Screenwriting all those years ago in New York he immediately went back the University to teach. Now having reinvented himself again, he has been teaching as USC Film School for the past 20 years with some considerable success.
What makes this such a good view is the genuine love and respect that Martin and Scorsese have for each other to this very day. In their conversations on screen there is only talk about the exciting time in movie making when they were both big players, and there is little want for either of then to be circumspect as say ‘if only’…. Martin comes across as an articulate and rather funny man who has no time for bullshit but relishes in the fact that he is a master storyteller. It is what he strives to imbue in his students, and it seems to be working.
I will confess that although I have seen all of Scorsese’s work I had never been aware even on the existence of this other very talented man. It’s quite a delight to be able to say that thanks to this wee documentary that I will not forget him now.
★★★★★★★★
Labels: 2007, biography, documentary, writer
