Martin Scorsese Has Shot a Short Film of Himself for BBC Special About Pandemic Isolation
BBC's flagship arts program Front Row Late has been airing its retitled series Lockdown Culture With Mary Beard, in which they have been discussing the impacts of isolation during the pandemic, and in the series’ final episode, they’ve gotten legendary director Martin Scorsese to share his point of view. In the self-made video, Scorsese said:
“What I look forward to in the future is carrying with me what I have been forced to learn in these circumstances," said Scorsese of his isolation experience. "It is the essential. The people you love. Being able to take care of them and be with them as much as you can.”
THR reports that other episodes of the series have included director Lee Daniels, who explained in his film “why he believes the current shutdown in Hollywood could be a radical creative opportunity for filmmakers.” The series has also had:
“Margaret Atwood and her sister with a homespun puppet show created at their kitchen table, sculptor Antony Gormley on his state of isolation and creativity, Kwame Kwei-Armah with Antonio Pappano and Juliet Stevenson on why theater matters and Icelandic-Danish visual artist Olafur Eliasson in a debate about nature and art.”
“The show has also included an exclusive monologue told through the voice of the COVID-19 virus from 2019's Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo, John Donne poem readings by both Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson and a discussion about the power of poetry during a pandemic with Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke, poet Lemn Sissay and historian David Olusoga.”
Host of the series, Mary Beard, commented on Scorsese’s involvement, saying:
"Martin Scorsese makes a wonderful end to the series. We see him at home, thinking about lockdown through the lens of classic movies, like Hitchcock's The Wrong Man," said host Beard. "But what's really clever is that this great Hollywood luminary also gets us to look at Hitchcock again afresh through the lens of our current predicament. I was absolutely over the moon when he agreed to do it for us. It feels a bit like hosting a little premiere. And it all contributes to a pretty amazing finale."
This sounds very cool. It’s nice to hear from people in all walks of life and through all different art forms during unusual times. Check out the final episode of Lockdown Culture With Mary Beard tonight on BBC.