在本部纪录片中,马丁·斯克西斯以文森特·明尼里的《玉女奇遇》开场,向我们抛掷导演与制片人之间永恒的矛盾,进而引出影片的第一部分《导演的两难境地》;《导演是讲故事者》分别介绍了美国三大类型片:西部片、警匪片和歌舞片;《导演是魔术师》则介绍电影的视觉手法和特效等;《导演像走私犯》里介绍他所喜爱的几位导演和其作品;《导演应打破旧习》更是谈及多位举足轻重的知名导演。马丁·斯克西斯通过对老电影片段的剪辑和对人物的访谈,面对镜头侃侃而谈,就像开篇所说:“电影就是疾病,就像吸毒一样。解决之道,就是拍更多的电影”。 在将近四个小时的光影中,马丁·斯克西斯以其独特的风格,向我们介绍了六十年代的美国电影,尤其是他所钟爱的影片以及导演,带领我们一起走进他的美国电影之旅。Despite its nearly four-hour running time, this is a uniquely personal look at movies from one of the late 20th century's great directors and film historians. The film consists of head & shoulder shots of Scorsese speaking into the camera for a minute or two, followed by 10-15 minutes of film clips with Scorsese voice-over. Scorsese approaches the films in terms of how they affected him as a director foremost and as a storyteller/film fan second. Segments include "The Director as Smuggler," "The Director as Iconoclast", and so on. The Journey begins with silent masters like D.W. Griffith and ends in 1969 - when Scorsese began to make films; as he says in closing, "I wouldn't feel right commenting on myself or my contemporaries."