Martin Scorsese has accused review websites of damaging the movie business.
The 75-year-old filmmaker – who has has directed some of the most iconic movies in recent cinema history, such as ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Raging Bull’ – has hit out at review aggregator websites, saying they devalue cinema.
He explained: "It can all be summed up in the word that’s being used now: content.
"All movie images are lumped together. You’ve got a picture, you’ve got a TV episode, a new trailer, you’ve got a how-to video on a coffee-maker, you’ve got a Super Bowl commercial, you’ve got ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, it’s all the same.
"They can also turn a picture off and go straight to the next piece of content. If there’s no sense of value tied to a given movie, of course, it can be sampled in bits and pieces and just forgotten."
Scorsese argued that aggregator sites encourage people to make a snap judgement of movies, which he believes to be detrimental to the industry.
The Hollywood icon told Entertainment Weekly: "The horrible idea they reinforce [is] that every picture, every image is there to be instantly judged and dismissed without giving audiences time to see it.
"Time to see it, maybe ruminate and maybe make a decision for themselves. So the great 20th century art form, the American art form, is reduced to content."
Scorsese told the attendees at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival that they were able to recognise the distinction between disposable content and real cinema.
He said: "You know the difference between a YouTube video and the great American art form. You react against the devaluation of cinema and movies by showing up."
Martin Scorsese expresses concern for health of the movie business
