Plot Summary

Beginning this "personal journey" with his childhood passion for the movies, Martin Scorsese offers a provocative, multifaceted portrait of a strange breed -- the Hollywood film director. From D.W. Griffith to John Cassavetes, he examines the triumphs and vicissitudes of the masters whose films prompted him to become a filmmaker. The question that absorbs him is, "What does it take to be a serious artist in Hollywood?" (Criterion)