I haven't seen all of the film, byt that scene at the beginning when he's discussing "The Searchers" I just felt that Harvey's mannerisms and obsessiveness seemed a lot like Marty.
shareScorsese's Who's That Knocking On My Door and Mean Streets were partly autobiographical and Keitel's character is to an extent a Scorsese stand-in. Upto a point of course since these characters never go to film school and decide to make films on their experiences. In the sense they are what kind of person Scorsese would have been had he remained there or if he couldn't leave.
The discussion about The Searchers and the confrontation between Ethan Edwards and Scar was one of the many aspects that made The Searchers a special film for Scorsese's generation and not just in America. J.R. in that scene is amazed that the film is discussed in a French magazine after all. So yes that cinephile side is certainly like him. Though Scorsese isn't a misogynist like J.R.
"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes
Yeah, I noticed that too, I was watching it with my mom and I told her, she agreed with me.
Definitely some Marty-isms in there.
You'd find that Lady Luck was really a hooker and you were fresh out of cash.
From Scorsese's contribution to the DVD commentary for ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974) [around the ~8:00 minute mark]:
Harvey and I...we were very close. We felt---we still do---we feel like we're very similar people. There's an energy in him that...for me, I take totally for granted; but for other people it can be pretty strong.