Scorsese exhibition goes back to the director's roots

The Deutsche Kinemathek Museum pulls in Marty's childhood kitchen table for its major new exhibition

The new Martin Scorsese exhibition at The Deutsche Kinemathek Museum in Berlin, (until 12 May 2013) is a treat. This, the first major exhibition dedicated to the director anywhere in the world, features such famous props as the boxing gloves from Raging Bull (1980) and Cate Blanchett's evening dress from The Aviator (2004), as well as the voice of Mr Scorsese himself, who narrates the museum's audio commentary. The Kinemathek curators really appear to have dug as deeply as possible to find objects that offer personal insights into the director's creative process.

As Scorsese himself attests in a video address to mark the show's opening, some of the pieces in the display cases were "literally taken off the walls of my house and office" in order to be put on display.

Agence Presse France report that his parents' kitchen table is among the items on show in the exhibtion's earlier stages, as well as other childhood curios and photographs. Meanwhile, in later sections, film posters from the director's own collection line the walls.

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Scorsese's elder brother Frank, in an interview for the show, says, "my brother was a sickly boy. Marty had a tough childhood. But I used to keep him close. Take him to movies. He was six years younger, so I'd look out for him."

Equally insightful letters exchanged between the director and Robert De Niro show how the pair worked on character development. There are also spaces devoted to Scorsese's use of music, cinematography and editing.

In all, it sounds like a great show. If you can't get to Berlin, try to catch the show when it travels to Turin and Geneva later this year; or, for further insight into the director's work, consider our essential guide to Scorsese, which forms part of our Masters of Cinema range.