A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)
British Film Institute, Miramax

Description

Leading American filmmaker Martin Scorsese's entry in the BFI's "The Century of Cinema" series is a 235-minute odyssey. Showing the same mastery of the documentary form as he has of fictional narratives, he chronicles his self-discovery as a filmmaker, using as touchstones both Hollywood masterworks and unsung B-movies. At the same time, he examines the central conflict in American cinema: the director's need to reconcile his role as a team player with his own personal expression.

Collected reviews and ratings

10 New York Times | Caryn James

Though this vastly entertaining, strong-willed new documentary runs nearly four hours, it has no room for pompous artistes or stuffy academics. With his down-to-earth passion for movies and his true artist's vision, Mr. Scorsese was the ideal choice to make this documentary.
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10 Combustible Celluloid | Jeffrey M. Anderson

Watching this documentary, we not only raise our appreciation for film art in general, but we also better understand Scorsese's vision in particular. I cannot better recommend a single movie for those who love or want to learn about film
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10 Entertainment Weekly | Steve Daly

This is the most cogent, entertaining, and genuinely inspiring film-theory course you're likely to find - and it doesn't matter if old, obscure American movies aren't of particular interest to you.
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9.0 Amazon user reviews

This work is truly one of Scorsese's most direct bridges to his imagination and personality, and it has the sort of restorative properties that can make a cinephile wearied by today's junk culture fall in love with movies again
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9.0 DVD Times | Gary Couzens

An essential purchase for film buffs, A Personal Journey is a solid, if idiosyncratic and unashamedly personal, grounding in the history of Hollywood and how its films have developed over the years.
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9.0 DVD Talk | Aaron Beierle

"A Personal Journey" is a treat, and I enjoyed being lead through history by Scorsese, and shown all of these classic films that I have not yet seen. This is absolutely recommended, and actually, will make a perfect gift for film fans.
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8.3 The Onion A.V. Club | Keith Phipps

The director nicely illustrates how even flawed movies can sometimes be more compelling than universally acclaimed masterpieces. Even at nearly four hours, the series flies by; it should be enjoyed by film scholars and casual viewers in equal measure.
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8.0 The Guardian | John Patterson

A Personal Journey offers an admirably clear, energising introduction to how movies were and are made, and will set the beginner on the right path. This is a lot less prosaic than it sounds, and something to be grateful for.
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8.0 DVD Journal | JJB

Scorsese's Personal Journey is a virtual film school in a DVD case, if an unusual one. Rather than simply start with the earliest of American films, say The Great Train Robbery, and then work his way through The Jazz Singer, Citizen Kane, and on towards 2001, the director (along with collaborator Michael Henry Wilson) has an almost stream-of-consciousness progression, choosing various topics that relate to the director's role in Hollywood history.
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8.0 allmovie | Tom Wiener

It may not be the definitive documentary on the history of American films, but Martin Scorsese's series of films, commissioned by the British Film Institute for showing on TV, represents one of the most incisive examinations of the director's role in Hollywood filmmaking
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