Martin Scorsese Is Now The Most Best Director-Nominated Living Filmmaker Of All Time

Although Scorsese has won Best Director at the Oscars only once so far, his other nominated entries in the same category were strong, compelling contenders, and they form an integral part of his cinematic oeuvre, which is so wonderfully varied and distinct. In 1981, Scorsese earned his first Best Director Oscar nomination for “Raging Bull” alongside directors like David Lynch (“The Elephant Man”) and Richard Rush (“The Stunt Man”), and lost out to Robert Redford, who helmed “Ordinary People.” Despite the loss, Scorsese had already cemented his name among talented, up-and-coming directors whose body of work had something visceral and meaning to say.

Over the years, Scorsese earned several nominations in the category, including for his controversial, yet stellar “The Last Temptation of Christ,” along with beloved entries like “Goodfellas” and “Gangs of New York,” and the most recent one being 2020’s “The Irishman.” Other Best Director nominations were for “The Aviator,” “Hugo,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” where the latter lost to Alfonso Cuaron for “Gravity” (and also lost Best Picture to Steve McQueen’s “12 Years A Slave”).

Despite the prestige and influence that the Oscars boast, there will always be films that either slip under its radar or fail to get the recognition it deserves. After all, countless films in Scorsese’s oeuvre itself have never won an Oscar nomination but deserve to be highlighted for their artistic merit. In the meanwhile, the category-wide nominations that “Killers of the Flower Moon” has garnered should be celebrated, along with Scorsese breaking Oscar records by being the most-nominated living director in the Best Director category so far. The man deserves it.