Scorsese’s fourth feature and his modern tribute, in a sense, to the classic Hollywood women’s picture. Scorsese has always been a film lover first and a filmmaker second, and so it’s appropriate that Alice opens with a striking visual homage to the likes of Gone with the Wind. Florid titles, elegant camerawork and a Technicolor palette are used to depict the title heroine as a young girl in her rural, childhood home. Suddenly we jump ahead to a present-day Alice (Ellen Burstyn), along with Scorsese’s racing camera and a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack. It may be Scorsese’s definitive transition: classic Hollywood grandeur colliding with an exciting, new, pop technique. All of which is to say Scorsese doesn’t mute his style for a “feminine” story, that of Alice’s struggles to make a living in the American West as the single mother of an 11-year-old son (Alfred Lutter). Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is a raw, clear-eyed depiction of the challenges she faces, from having your child as your best friend to negotiating the cruel world of men.
