On Tuesday, the 81-year-old filmmaker Martin Scorsese became the most nominated director in Oscar history. The gratitude and nominations Scorsese had received included his work, and few came in due to his collaborations on Killers of the Flower Moon.
This remarkable experience, which Scorsese has been humming, is just one step closer to leaving Willian Whymer, who died at age 79 in 1978 and holds a record of 12 nominations.
Martin Scorsese makes Oscar history
On Tuesday, Martin Scorsese made Oscar history by becoming the most-nominated living director ever. The highest record is 12 nominations in Oscar history, owned by William Whymer, who died in 1981 at the age of 79.
On receiving this recognition from the academy, Martin felt gratified for himself and many of his collaborators on Killers of the Flower Moon. In a statement given by Scorsese, he feels it was a remarkable experience to make this picture and to work together with the Osage community so they could tell the story of a genuine American tragedy that was hidden behind the shadows of official culture for far two decades.
While standing in this gratified situation, he also wished that Robbie Robertson, the film composer who died at 80 years of age, two months before its release, would have been alive to see his work recognized by others; both Robertson and Scorsese had a long-standing friendship. Scorsese shared that the growing consciousness of Robbie about his native heritage played a crucial role in his desire to get this film on the screen.
In the nomination for the Oscar 2024 nomination, Killers of the Flower Moon has been up for 10 Academy Awards, including the Best Picture Award. This record by Martin Scorsese has surpassed the Best Director nod count of Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg.
Among the acting nominees for Killers of the Flower Moon are two awards: in the Best Actress category, Lily Gladstone, and for Best Supporting Actor, Robert De Niro.
Gladstone, the fourth indigenous actress to earn a nomination in the category, has also made history by being the first native American actress nominated for an Oscar.
Killers of the Moon is based on the true story of a several-year relationship in the 1920s between Ernest, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Molly Burkhart. That depicts the story of the white settlers in Oklahoma who orchestrated plots and murdered many members of the Osage Nation to have the authority to obtain their headlights to the oil from the deposits of the tribe.
With a win followed by a 2024 Oscar nomination, Socrese will be marking his second Oscar statuette after receiving the Best Director award previously for helming The Departed (2006) and will be seen up against Justine Triet (anatomy of a fall), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), and Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest).
Recently, in New York at the National Board of Review Awards Gala, Daniel Day-Lewis honored Martin Scorsese with the Best Director Award. While being honored by the retired actor, Scorsese was also praised by him for the vision and effort he uses to create ‘enthralling’ films.
Day-Lewis, who starred in the films Scorese: The Age of Innocence (1993) and Gangs of New York (2002), praised Martin for the light he has in his own making that illuminates a world pulsed with dangerous, irresistible energy, mysterious to him and utterly enthralling.
According to Day-Lewis Martin, he eliminates the vast, beautiful landscape of what is possible in film and says, “He clarified to me what it is that one must ask for oneself, to work in faith.” The actor also shared a glimpse of his close relationship with the director, noting that it is one of the greatest joys and most unexpected privileges of his life to find himself one day working with him.
The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air on Sunday, March 10, from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, at 7:00 PM ET.
