From Goodfellas to Gangs of New York, some of Scorsese’s most acclaimed films are based on books.
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Scorsese’s faithful and brilliant cinematic book adaptations
Eddie Felson is a former pool hustler turned successful liquor salesman in Chicago. He still stakes bets for players, including fellow hustler Julian, who is outmatched at nine-ball by the young and charismatic Vincent Lauria. Recognizing Vincent’s skill, and his girlfriend Carmen’s inexperience at luring players to lose money, Eddie tells the couple of their excellent potential for hustling.
In Manhattan during the early 1990s, Frank Pierce is a burned-out hospital paramedic who works the graveyard shift in a two-man ambulance team with various partners. Frank discovers Mary was childhood friends with Noel, a brain-damaged drug addict and delinquent who is frequently sent to the hospital.
In 1870s, New York City, gentleman lawyer Newland Archer is planning to marry the respectable young May Welland. At first she is ostracized by society and vicious rumors are spread, but, as May’s family boldly stands by the countess, she is gradually accepted by the very finest of New York’s old families.
Jesus of Nazareth is a carpenter in Roman-occupied Judea, torn between his own desires and his knowledge that God has a plan for him. Judas Iscariot, a friend of Jesus’ originally sent to kill him for collaboration, instead suspects that Jesus is the Messiah and asks him to lead a liberation war against the Romans.
The film narrates the tale of Boxcar Bertha Thompson and ‘Big’ Bill Shelly, a pair of train robbers deeply in love, whose lives become intertwined with the struggles of railroad workers in the Southern United States. However, their lives take a dramatic turn when Bertha is accused of being involved in the murder of a wealthy gambler, forcing them to become fugitives on the run from the law.