Few filmmakers are more ᴀssociated with male-dominated films than Martin Scorsese, although, upon further reflection, his movies contain some all-time great female movie characters. While this iconic New York director only has one feature film with a woman protagonist, most of his movies boast strong, competent, and three-dimensional women who add depth and nuance to the story’s narrative. While Scorsese has been criticized in the past for a lack of female representation, it’s important to highlight the times the director got things right.

Many of Scorsese’s greatest films featured incredible performances from strong female characters. From all-time great roles like Sharon Stone’s astounding turn in Casino to breakout performances such as Margot Robbie’s memorable turn in The Wolf of Wall Street, many female characters stand out when looking at Scorsese’s filmography with a critical eye. At a brief glance, Scorsese’s work may look like it’s all about men’s stories, but these films would not be nearly as iconic without so many well-rounded and interesting female characters.

10

Ellen Olenska

The Age of Innocence (1993)

Martin Scorsese explored his more romantic side with the historical drama The Age of Innocence, an insightful glimpse into the world of 19th-century New York high society that featured an astounding performance by Michelle Pfeiffer as Ellen Olenska. While this adaptation of Edith Wharton’s acclaimed novel starred Daniel Day-Lewis as Newland Archer, the real appeal of this film was the two women he was caught in between, portrayed by Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder as May Welland.

As a victim of the restrained nature and unspoken etiquette of the time period she lived within, Olenska embodied the quiet defiance of rebellious women, trying not to let their individuality be quashed by the social expectations of those around her. As a provocative yet simultaneously tragic character, Olenska highlighted Scorsese’s skill at directing women burdened by circumstance. While Pfeiffer’s performance signaled a world of emotion buried below the surface, her affluent circumstances’ strict codes of conduct meant her defiant nature put her in danger of being ostracized by the supposedly upstanding society she’s surrounded by.

9

Karen Hill

Goodfellas (1990)

While Goodfellas has been lauded as Martin Scorsese’s gangster movie masterpiece, and the performances of Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci have rightfully been praised, it’s important to highlight the incredible women who make this movie so enduring. While Scorsese’s mother, Catherine, had a scene-stealing turn as Tommy’s mom, Mrs. DeVito, the real female lead was Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill. With a heightened melodrama, Bracco’s performance embodied the thrill of a conventional suburban woman being introduced to a seedy life of crime she’s not fully comfortable with.

In the same way that audiences watched Liotta as Henry Hill slowly allowed himself to be taken over by the gangster lifestyle, Karen’s character arc was one of transformation as she started dating Henry while she was still an innocent, bright-eyed teenager. However, Karen was soon seduced by Henry’s glamorous lifestyle and found herself embroiled in his crimes through drug smuggling. As a fantastic portrayal of real women, Bracco was deservedly nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Goodfellas.

8

Ginger McKenna

Casino (1995)

Martin Scorsese has had plenty of great female characters throughout his filmography, although most of them were victims of circumstances or tragic characters who found themselves in over their heads. This was not the case for Ginger McKenna in Casino, the beautiful con artist, showgirl, and former prosтιтute played by Sharon Stone. No stranger to a life of crime, Ginger was based on the real-life hustler Geri McGee and quickly married Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) before eventually turning on him.

With a truly unhinged performance, Stone gained a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Ginger, as her charming, chaotic, and unpredictable portrayal made her one of the best things about Casino. Ginger was vain, manipulative, and irresponsible and had no issues with betraying even her own husband. In a filmography filled with outrageous characters, typically played by classic tough-guy actors like Joe Pesci, it was thrilling to see Stone portray one of Scorsese’s most deranged villains.

7

Danny Bowden

Cape Fear (1991)

As a director who always had a great appreciation for film history, it was exciting to see Martin Scorsese remake a film noir classic with the release of Cape Fear. While Robert De Niro’s intense performance as Max Cady, a convicted violent rapist on a revenge mission, has overshadowed much of the conversation surrounding this film, it’s important to highlight Juliette Lewis’s role as Danny Bowden. As the teenage daughter of Sam Bowden, the man who put Cady away for 14 years, it was Danny whom Max set his sights on, first through seduction before turning manically violent.

Lewis gained the role ahead of 500 hopeful actresses (via Howard Stern) and was widely praised as one of the most exciting young actresses in Hollywood. As a performance that even rivaled the acting legend De Niro, Lewis more than held her own as she captured the fear, horror, and shock of being pursued by a deranged, vengeful maniac. While Jessica Lange should also receive praise for her role as the mother, Leigh Bowden, Lewis’s role as Danny helped elevate Cape Fear into more than a simple rehash of a film noir classic.

6

Masha

The King of Comedy (1982)

The King of Comedy was truly one of Martin Scorsese’s funniest and strangest movies that had a noticeable influence on later films, such as Todd Phillips’ Joker. While Robert De Niro gave one of his all-time great performances as the wannabe comedian Rupert Pupkin, it was his unstable and obsessive friend Masha who helped him carry out his kidnapping plot due to her deranged infatuation with the late-night TV host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis.)

With a suitable unhinged performance from Sandra Bernhard, Masha represented the darkest side of mental health troubles as she forced Langford into their “dream date” while he was helplessly duct-taped to a chair. With delusional beliefs that border on psycH๏τic, Masha’s character acted as a dark mirror to Rupert as, although his obsession was linked to career goals, hers was reflected through sheer fanaticism. The role of Masha was a career-defining performance by Bernhard, and it deserves to be a much larger part of the conversation concerning best performances in a Scorsese movie.

5

Iris Steensma

Taxi Driver (1976)

Jodie Foster was just 12 years old when she was cast as the child prosтιтute Iris Steensma in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. While Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle was disgusted by the social erosion and depraved behavior he witnessed driving his cab around New York, Iris was a character who was actually in the thick of it as she was groomed and abused by pimps and johns. For Bickle, Iris came to embody the most heartbreaking example of lost innocence imaginable, and in his mission to get “scum off the streets,” he sought to save Iris.

In an Oscar-nominated performance, Foster captured society’s failure to protect its most innocent citizens. Iris’s naivete and faux maturity showcased that she did not even fully comprehend the level at which she was being exploited as she takes pride in being street smart yet fails to realize how clearly she’s perceived as a child. As just the beginning of a long and fruitful career, Foster’s role in Taxi Driver signaled her future as one of the most successful actresses of all time, who now has two Academy Awards to her name.

4

Naomi Lapaglia

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street was a movie full of big performances, so much so that Margot Robbie’s outstanding turn as Naomi Lapaglia sometimes gets left behind in the discussion. This was a shame because her performance was every bit as compelling as Leonardo DiCaprio’s or Jonah Hill’s. As a stunning and ambitious woman, Naomi appeared at first like a trophy wife to the shady stockbroker Jordan Belfort, yet she soon reveals herself as a confident, intelligent, and capable woman who was one of the few to resist and confront Belfort’s hedonistic lifestyle.

As a symbol of Belfort’s meteoric rise to the top and cataclysmic downfall, Noami’s beauty validated his success, while their divorce signaled his transition into pathetic depravity. While Noami enjoyed the luxurious lifestyle Belfort’s swindling afforded them, she saw the writing on the wall before anyone else and cleverly sought to make her escape before the house of cards came crashing down. As Robbie’s breakout role in Hollywood, Naomi Lapaglia was just the first step towards Oscar-nominated roles like I, Tonya, or the cultural juggernaut that was Barbie.

3

Mollie Burkhart

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Killers of the Flower Moon was a thoughtful exploration of the exploitation of the Osage Nation, a Native American tribe that became incredibly wealthy after oil was found on their tribal land. At the heart of this story was Mollie Burkhart, one of the most tragic and fascinating characters in all of Martin Scorsese’s filmography. With an astounding Oscar-nominated performance from Lily Gladstone, Mollie was presented as a confident and strong figure, only to have her agency ripped away from her as her white husband, Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio), slowly poisoned her under the guise of medical treatment.

Mollie’s role represented the full spectrum of the Osage people’s experiences with white infringers seeking to steal their wealth. While Mollie’s relationship with Ernest began with moments of genuine warmth, greed and manipulation took over, and she began to suspect the Osage women who were being systematically killed were not coincidental. Gladstone was rightfully praised for her role as Mollie, as her performance amounted to one of the most powerful and emotional in Scorsese’s entire body of work.

2

Vickie LaMotta

Raging Bull (1980)

With both Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci among its cast, Raging Bull was a sports movie classic that was packed with incredible characters. Among these was Vickie LaMotta, the girlfriend and later wife of the mentally unstable boxer Jake LaMotta, who unwittingly found herself trapped in an abusive marriage. With an astounding performance from Cathy Moriarty, who was an unknown actress and was cast at the age of just 18, the way she held her own in scenes opposite De Niro was truly impressive.

Through her confidence and intensity, although Vickie was boxed in by an abusive, controlling, and jealous husband, part of the power of her character was that she was never portrayed as a victim. Instead, Vickie found the forтιтude needed to get herself out of this terrible situation, pursue a divorce, and claim custody of their children. While the boxing scenes in Raging Bull represent Jake’s fractured emotional psyche, it must be said that Moriarty gave a knockout performance.

1

Alice Hyatt

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Of all the incredible female characters who have appeared in Martin Scorsese movies, only one was given the prestigious honor of being the main protagonist. Alice Hyatt from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore was a truly outstanding character who showcased Scorsese’s ability to tell a woman’s story in a powerful, thoughtful, and tragic way. As the story of a struggling woman trying to find a better life for herself and her son, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore tapped into the difficulties of being a young, single, and struggling mother.

With an incredible performance from Ellen Burstyn, Alice represented Scorsese’s most psychologically rich, three-dimensional, and compelling female character, whose grounded humanity made her story all the more poignant. From workplace struggles to abusive relationships, Alice’s life on the move was one of necessity as she was continually trapped and endangered by difficult circumstances. More so than anything, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore highlighted that it’s a crying shame Martin Scorsese didn’t make more female-centric movies.

Source: Howard Stern