1. Martin Scorsese And Robert De Niro
Films Together: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York, New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear and Casino. Each Scorsese-De Niro collaboration shares similar traits - an unbending trust between actor and director, an unrivalled dedication to exploring the wounded masculine psyche and an explicit darkness that has become synonymous with the best work of both men. Scorsese is without question the greatest living American director and De Niro is arguably the greatest actor of all time, but the world could have been so different if Harvey Keitel had never convinced De Niro to play Johnny in Mean Streets. Scorsese and De Niro are the greatest of friends, which is uncommon in such a pressure business, but it's what make their films tower above everybody else's. De Niro has complete trust in his director, which is needed as De Niro often has to do some very morally dubious things including the brutal rape scene in Cape Fear. And from the opposite view, Scorsese trusts De Niro to improvise and put into action his method acting. To pick a best film from the pair is something of a challenge as they never made a bad film together. There's the psychological intrigue of Taxi Driver, the raw power of Raging Bull, the audacious humour of The King of Comedy and the technical majesty of Goodfellas. De Niro constantly reinvents himself under Scorsese, and their best work has been with each other though Scorsese has made Leonardo DiCaprio his 21st Century De Niro as the pair haven't worked together since 1995's Casino. Scorsese believes De Niro gave his best performance for him in the underrated The King of Comedy, but as it comes close to twenty years since they've worked professionally together, and with both men advancing in age, its sadly looking likely they'll never collaborate on a movie again.