Martin Scorsese Is Now The Most Best Director-Nominated Living Filmmaker Of All Time
The 2024 Oscar nominations have been announced, and while there were plenty of snubs and surprises, some entries were unanimously expected to dominate across categories. Among them is Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," which received 10 nominations in total, including Best Picture, Directing, Cinematography, Film Editing, and more. The outpouring of love for Scorsese's latest work is deserved, especially with Lily Gladstone earning a historic nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role, making her the first Native American woman to earn a nomination in that category (and the first Indigenous woman to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture).
Scorsese's brilliance as a filmmaker cannot be overstated for obvious reasons, and his Oscar nomination for Best Director was an inevitability, given how layered and scathing his depiction of the Reign of Terror was in a film that demands depth and nuance. This is Scorsese's 10th nomination in the category, making him the most Best Director-nominated living director of all time, having surpassed Steven Spielberg, who has 9 nominations so far. While Spielberg has won the category twice for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," Scorsese has had only one win so far for "The Departed."
It is too early to predict the win for this year's Best Director category — there are strong contenders here, including Christopher Nolan for "Oppenheimer" and Justine Triet for "Anatomy of a Fall," among others — but Scorsese's potential win would be seminal, and a long time coming.
A long history of memorable Oscar nominations
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.