Washington DC [US], October 5 : Filmmaker Martin Scorsese opened up on his early exit from a Catholic seminary school that would have set his life on a very different path, according to People.
Scorsese, 82, discussed his lifelong fascination with religion in Rebecca Miller's new documentary, "Mr Scorsese," which premiered at the New York Film Festival.
He recalled in the series' first episode that he was deeply moved when he first attended Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, around the age of seven, and continued his religious education into his teenage years, as reported by People.
"There was a preparatory seminary, and that was on 85th Street somewhere. I did okay for the first few months, but something happened," Scorsese shared in the new series. "I began to realise the world is changing. It was early rock and roll, and the old world was dying out. I became aware of life around me. Falling in love or being attracted to girls; not that you're acting out on it, but there were these feelings, and I suddenly realised it's much more complicated than this. You can't shut yourself off."
"The idea of priesthood, to devote yourself to others, really, that's what it's about," he added in the documentary. "I realised I don't belong there. And I tried to stay, but they got my father in there, and they told him, 'Get him out of here.' Because I behaved badly."
Although Scorsese did not specify what constituted his behaviour as "badly," one of the director's childhood friends, Joe Morale, stated in the documentary that he felt Scorsese "had a heavy eye for the ladies" as a teenager.
Scorsese's fascination with religion has remained a constant throughout his life and career, despite not pursuing the Catholic priesthood as a teenager, according to People.
The director has made multiple movies concerning Catholicism in his career, including 1988's 'The Last Temptation of Christ' and 2017's 'Silence', and he also made a movie about the life of the incumbent Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, with 1997's Kundun.
Scorsese's relationship with his faith plays a major role in Mr. Scorsese, which tracks his entire filmmaking career and includes interviews with collaborators like Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, Thelma Schoonmaker, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, Jay Cocks, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, as well as his three daughters Cathy, 59, Domenica, 49, and Francesca, 25, his wife Helen Morris and other childhood friends, reported People.
The series begins streaming on Apple TV+ on October 17.
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