Late Band co-founder Robbie Robertson is featured prominently in the 2025 Apple TV+ docuseries Mr. Scorsese. The five-part presentation looks at the life and career of acclaimed and influential filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
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Scorsese and Robertson were close friends and frequent collaborators who first worked together on The Band’s historic 1978 concert film and documentary The Last Waltz.
Robertson shot hours of interviews with Mr. Scorsese director Rebecca Miller shortly before his 2023 death at age 80. In the second episode of the docuseries, Robbie recalled how he was first introduced to Scorsese and his film work, and how he eventually hired Martin to direct The Last Waltz.
“I first met Marty because my former road manager produced [his 1973 movie] Mean Streets,” Robertson shared. “He said, ‘You got to check … out this guy, this filmmaker. I’m telling you, you need to see this.”
Robbie said a private screening of Mean Streets was set up for him, and he immediately was impressed that Scorsese used the classic Ronettes song “Be My Baby” in the opening scene featuring actor Harvey Keitel.
“I thought, ‘This guy has got the inside scoop on something going on with film and music,’” Robertson remembered. “It just touched me.”
Robbie said that about two years later, he had the idea to stage and film a star-studded farewell concert with The Band, and he thought Scorsese would by the right guy to direct it.
On Getting Scorsese to Direct ‘The Last Waltz’
Speaking about his concept for The Last Waltz, Robertson said he wanted the concert to be a celebration of The Band’s career and many of the musicians with whom the group was “musically connected.”
“Everybody from … Neil Young to Van Morrison to Joni Mitchell. You know, on and on and on,” Robbie noted. “Everybody was representing a different spoke in the wheel of music.”
When Robertson told Scorsese about his vision for the project, the filmmaker was immediately interested, but he was in the middle of directing the movie New York, New York at the time.
As Robbie recalled, “He said, ‘I’m in the middle of shooting a movie. And the studio, the one thing they don’t like is when you’re in the middle of shooting a big Hollywood movie, that you go off and shoot another movie at the same time. They really don’t like that.’”
To Robertson’s surprise, Scorsese then suddenly said, “I don’t care. They can fire me, they can kill me. I don’t care. I got to do this.”
Robbie added, “So, we decided to do this over the Thanksgiving weekend [in 1976]. And instead of [Scorsese] taking a break, he would come up and shoot the concert.”
Robertson Was Impressed at Scorsese’s Masterful Directing Skills
Robertson said he was impressed by many aspects of Scorsese’s work on the film, including his preparation.
“Marty wrote a full script. Song by song, word by word, of what needs to happen,” he noted. Scorsese had a sheet that listed which each artist was singing and playing, the lighting that was needed, and what the various cameras should be doing.
Robertson recalled that during the shoot, Scorsese “was on a headset and he’s telling everybody what’s coming next and what you need to catch. And meanwhile, they’re reloading film and batteries and hoping the cameras don’t die.” He added, “It was an experiment in terror.”
When the concert was over, Robbie said he realized that he wanted a couple of other performances to be part of the film. So two more songs were filmed on a soundstage, where Scorsese was able to have more control over the cameras and performances.
“We shot that on the stage like one of the old musicals,” Robertson said. “And with that, Marty could move the camera in the way that he does, too. Which is… very, very musical. The rhythm, the [movement], everything. It’s like, wow. I’m telling you, he’s a man of rhythm.”
The extra scenes that were shot included renditions of “The Weight” featuring The Staple Singers and “Evangeline” with Emmylou Harris.
How Scorsese Felt About Working on ‘The Last Waltz’
Reflecting on capturing the performances for The Last Waltz, Scorsese said, “Music, I think, is the purest art form.”
He then pointed out that he wasn’t paid for his work on the film.
“My agent wanted to kill me,” Scorsese shared. “I just… said, ‘Yes … but I made the film.’ No amount of money could have compensated me for the … continuing beauty of… experiencing the work of that film. It’s like a gift.”
The Last Waltz is widely considered one of the greatest concert films of all time. Besides Young, Morrison, and Mitchell, the many other guest artists who performed at the show included Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Neil Diamond, and Bob Dylan.
(Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
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