If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fantastic!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Review: Man, this 4 hour documentary really seemed to go on forever. It's full of footage from the early years in Italian cinema, but I don't think that I have ever watched an Italian movie. At first, I did find it quite interesting because it was good to see how far the world of cinema has progressed, but I lost interest after a while. I liked when Scorsese was talking about his family and how it was to grow up in America back in the early years, but once he starts to get into the various directors and actors that influenced him to make movies, I did drift off a couple of times. My main problem with the documentary was that I hadn't seen or heard of any of the movies that Scorsese was talking about, so I didn't have a clue why the movies were so important back in a day and age when I wasn't born yet. I can understand how the movies had changed his life, but it's a world that I really can't relate to. In all, it's a well put together documentary which gives a deep insight into a Italian cinema, but you have to have an interest in this genre to be able to find the whole 4 hour experience interesting. Average! Round-Up: Scorsese really hasn't lost his touch nowadays, and he is still pulling in huge audiences at the box office. This documentary really does show that he was a lover of movies at a really early age and it gives a complete different point of view about the world of cinema. With movies like the Taxi Driver "You Talking To Me", to films like Goodfellas and Casino, I doubt that were ever going to get a director that can mix deep drama with heavy violence so well. After watching were he got his influences from, it really doesn't seem like he would ever make movies the way that he does. Maybe thats because of his unique vision which your everyday person well never be able to create, write or direct, because he is coming from such a different angle which is deeply rooted inside him. As I director, I rate him highly, but as a documentary, it's just way too long. Budget: N/A Domestic Gross: $11,600I recommend this movie to people who are into there documentaries which show the many movies and actors which have influenced Martin Scorsese to make movies. 4/10

"My Voyage to Italy" is a great film if you are trying to look into the mind of Martin Scorsese or if you are a film student. He talks very candidly about himself and about his adoration of Italian movies and is wonderful for his dedication to film preservation and appreciation. However, if you want to learn about some great Italian films so you can watch them yourself, "y Voyage to Italy" also has a few problems. It isn't a complete overview of great Italian films but a look at Italian films that Scorsese loves and the films ONLY covers a couple decades of cinema. Therefore, it is not exhaustive and many wonderful films from this same period (about 1943 to the mid-1960s) are omitted. And, most importantly, Scorsese not only talks about the films but divulges ALL the endings and twists and meaning--possibly ruining the viewing experience for anyone looking to follow his recommendations for great films to watch. Now all this does not seem like enough that you should completely avoid his film--there are some interesting insights into the films and Scorsese's mind. Just be aware of all this before you decide to watch--it could spoil your chance to experience the films without preconceptions and too much information.As for me, I mildly enjoyed it but was saddened that some of Vittorio De Sica's best films were not even mentioned (probably because he is my personal favorite of these directors). While "The Bicycle Thief" is perhaps his most famous film he directed and I did love Scorsese's discussion of "Umberto D.", the much lesser known and earlier "The Children Are Watching Us" is, in my mind, his very best--and it's an incredibly brave film that predated the ones discussed in "My Voyage to Italy". Now I cannot blame Scorsese for not mentioning it--the film has only recently been re-released by Criterion. An additional film, though, that he should have seen but didn't mention was "Miracle in Milan"--a film that combines wonderful Neo-Realism with the Surrealism that Fellini was known for--but MUCH earlier in the history of Italian cinema. It is brilliantly quirky. Likewise, I would have loved a discussion of Fellini's films between "I Vitelloni" and "La Dulce Vida"--as films like "La Strada" and "Nights of Cabiria" seem oddly absent from Scorsese's discussion.Perhaps I am too picky--especially since I have seen most of the films he discusses. And, perhaps I am too critical because of my adoration of foreign cinema. Plus, I realize I do have very, very strong opinions! All I know is that I did enjoy the film but really would have preferred a most exhaustive and comprehensive overview--but it would have probably lasted 10-12 hours or more! When they bring out some film like this, please let me know!

This is a documentary about movies. It is also a masterpiece that can be appreciated on it's own terms. IL MIO VIAGGIO IN ITALIA is an essay film that uses clips from Italian masters(Visconti, DeSica, Fellini, Antonioni and above all RossellinI) not in the club footed manner of Oscar montages, but with the care and attention of detail of an art historian contemplating Renaissance architecture. It's like the scene in F FOR FAKE when Welles looks at the Chartes cathedral, the same sense of elegy and beauty, and defiance.But just as importantly, the film is about Scorsese himself. He begins by noting that the total absence of non-American films in the cultural landscape and the influence these films had on him. Then he shares recently uncovered video footage of his father(who Scorsese resembles a great deal) as a young man and then footage of street life in New York as a boy. The film goes through each Italian film step-by-step, inch-by-inch and the effect generated by the use of the clips is very poetic. At the end of the film, Scorsese talks about Fellini's 8 1/2, a film about a film-maker who goes through a period of crisis, of reflection and then resumes rejuvenated and full of affirmation of life.

In A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, (1995) (TV), the eponymous legendary director took us on a proverbial tour of his old neighborhood: the Hollywood movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s which were his school on screen.He now takes us on a second tour of his early influences, this time of early post-war Italian cinema which he recalls growing up watching on an Italian t.v. station in New York, albeit dubbed into English.Want to know those influences? Buy it and watch it.Like with the earlier documentary, this one is an immediate collection standard for everyone from the movie buff to Scorsese's heirs-in-the-making. You may be tempted to watch it through as I tried to one Friday night on a cable broadcast. You'd be better off watching it in segments al la the film school classroom. I know I will.