“Alice is no longer here”, by Martin Scorsese: our review

Aclose Mean Streets and before Taxi Driver, Scorsese accepts a script, signed Robert Getchell, provided by actress Ellen Burstyn. The story of this woman married to a violent man, who finds herself a widow with her 11-year-old son, seems far removed from her concerns. And yet…

Fluidity and intelligence of the direction, mix of drama and comedy, direction of actors: everything combines to make this portrait of a woman a tremendous success. Presented, from the first scene, as someone who has not achieved her childhood dream (to become a singer), Alice is also a lover who has not found love.

Her journey, made up of disappointments and joys, repeated mistakes and learning, is well anchored in the 1970s, where machismo and feminism clashed. Scorsese peppers his film with references (Sirk, Wilder…). If Taxi Driver opened the road to glory for him, is thatAlice… had put him on the path.