Ask yourself this: what is Martin Scorsese's greatest film? Many would go for one of the seventies classics like Mean Streets or Taxi Driver, although the monochrome wallop of Raging Bull probably packs more of a punch. The hyper kinetic GoodFellas has stood the test of time, too (without it, we wouldn't have Boogie Nights), and even Casino has gained stature over the years. For sheer mischief making controversy you could argue that The Last Temptation of Christ was Marty's finest hour - clearly it's his most personal and passionate work. My vote is The King of Comedy, a note-perfect dissection of psychopathic celebrity culture in which Robert De Niro channels the ghost of Travis Bickle for darkly satirical ends. But according to Oscar history, the defining pinnacle of Scorsese's career to date is...The Departed. Yup, that's right - as far as Oscar voters are concerned, maestro Marty's greatest film is the remake of a Hong Kong actioner which had a far more memorable English language title (Infernal Affairs) than Scorsese's Oscar winner, the name of which no-one can ever remember. How's that for a killer pub quiz question?
—Mark Kermode, The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex
