Martin Scorsese is primarily known as a film director, and he has done a tremendous job in his main area of expertise. Throughout his career, the filmmaker has received a whopping 10 nominations for the Oscar for Best Director (one more than Steven Spielberg), making him the Academy’s most-nominated living director, and second most-nominated director of all time (second only to William Wyler). On top of that, 10 of his movies have also been nominated for Best Picture.
Martin Scorsese’s trophy cabinet also contains a few Emmys, one of which is for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. The award was handed to him after his stellar work on the pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire. The episode would become the highest-rated premiere for an HBO show since the pilot of Deadwood in March 2004.
Scorsese never directed another episode of the show, but series creator Terrence Winter (who served as a writer on The Sopranos), acknowledged that other directors maintained the tone and look established by the Hollywood legend.
Boardwalk Empire’s Pilot Introduces Viewers to the Dawn of the Prohibition Era
Events in the episode kick off on the eve of Prohibition. The show’s central character, Atlantic City treasurer Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi), is revealed to be in bed with various mob bosses, notably Chicago’s Big Jim Colosimo and New York’s Arnold Rothstein. While alcohol lovers see the new law as a bad thing, the criminals celebrate, knowing the lucrative bootlegging opportunities it will bring. We are also introduced to younger versions of more legendary mob figures. Al Capone is only Colosimo’s driver at this stage, while Charles “Lucky” Luciano is Rothstein’s lackey.
Like any other Scorsese project based on actual events, Boardwalk Empire’s pilot episode doesn’t just recount actual events and leave it at that. The director updates and expands on the source material, resulting in intriguing fictional subplots.
For example, Nucky issues orders for an abusive husband to be whacked, then starts courting his wife. Rothstein is also revealed to be a troublesome figure, promising to buy liquor from Nucky only to overspend at the treasurer’s casino (aware that he is a good gambler), so that he would be owed money instead.
While the premiere takes some liberties with historical details, it still provides an insightful character study of glorified mob figures, as well as a vivid glimpse into a pivotal period in American history. Be aware that the episode’s climactic sequence is not for the squeamish, but you can shut your eyes. In it, Colosimo gets shot in the back of the head while listening to classical music. The plotter? His second in command: Johnny Torrio.
How Scorsese Ended Up Directing the Episode
Martin Scorsese’s involvement in the show marked the first time the filmmaker had directed an episode of television since an episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories in 1986. According to Winter, Scorsese was already attached to the show before he came along.
Speaking to Esquire, the series creator revealed that after finishing his work on The Sopranos, HBO execs handed him the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, to see if he could find an interesting angle for a new show from it. The book is about the entire history of Atlantic City, starting with the swamp years, so adapting the full material was going to be hard.
Winter explains that when he hit the chapter about the Prohibition Era, he understood that this would be the perfect area to focus on, so he went to visit Scorsese.
“I was like a girl going to the prom. What should I wear? [
laughs
] Literally, I got to his house 20 minutes early and walked around the block. I didn’t want to be too early, I didn’t want to be too late, I didn’t want to appear too eager. This was one of my idols. It’s really kind of goofy, but it is absolutely true.”
Winter had never met Scorsese before, but he must have left a strong impression, as the two would go on to work together on future projects The Wolf of Wall Street and Vinyl.
Circling back to Boardwalk Empire, Winter explains that Scorsese was only meant to be an executive producer, but after reading his script for the pilot, he jumped in.
“He called me up and said, ‘I just read the pilot. I think it’s terrific. I think I’d like to direct it.’ I almost fell out of my chair. He asked, ‘How do we move this forward?’ I said, ‘Well if you pick up the phone and call the president of HBO and tell him what you just told me, I’m pretty sure we’re going to be moving forward pretty quickly.’ Five minutes later, I got a text message from HBO CEO Richard Plepler and it was just all exclamation points.”
Because he was a filmmaker with a proven track record, Martin Scorsese was given quite the bulky war chest to get the ball rolling. It’s a costly production — and it shows. The series premiere’s budget reportedly stood at $18 million, making it one of the most expensive TV episodes ever. Besides that, Scorsese was involved in various other production aspects. It was he who suggested the casting of Steve Buscemi in the lead role, so no other actors were ever considered.
How Boardwalk Empire’s Pilot Compares to Scorsese’s Other Works
As someone who has directed seven gangster movies, Martin Scorsese was always the right person to start the engine for a vehicle carrying Prohibition Era hoodlums. However, many of his trademarks are missing in the episode. For example, there is no voiceover/narration. Lyrical and engrossing, Scorsese’s tales of megalomania and financial gluttony are often told from the mouth of the main character, to make everything easier to understand. Here, Nucky never explains anything to the viewer. They just have to keep up.
Beyond that, Scorsese doesn’t spice up the tale with creative editing and a host of impressionistic images. There are no major tracking shots or freeze frames. Additionally, there is no muse. The filmmaker is known for routinely casting actors like Robert DeNiro, Leonardo Dicaprio, and Harvey Keitel, but none of them are present here. Presumably, none of them wanted a TV role.
However, Martin Scorsese’s fans don’t get completely deprived of what they are used to feeding on. Wealth and morality are recurring themes. Most characters in the pilot episode want to make it big, and it doesn’t matter to them whether they break a few laws while at it. There is also the reliance on styled violence. Only in a Scorsese production would an offender be made to “sleep with the fishes” and then his body surfaces on a fisherman’s nest.
Most importantly, the episode has the usual visual flair. Under Scorsese’s direction, Atlantic City looks so alluring and romantic when the sun shines, but then it becomes a dappled menacing center of crime under the moonlight. Rarely on television is a location so skillfully woven into the fabric of a show. From the shots of the Boardwalk to the costume design, everything is meticulously done, leaving TV lovers yearning for another Scorsese visit. Hopefully, it’ll happen again soon.
Boardwalk Empire
is available to stream in the US on Max
