Summary
At last! A “real movie”! For real though, boring Scorsese v Marvel debate aside (because both are awesome, so there) this is one hell of a (long) ride.
Martin Scorsese’s latest film has probably got more attention for his views on the state of mainstream cinema. Which is a shame for two reasons: it’s divided a community who have a shared love of movies, and it might just overshadow the content of his new film. THE IRISHMAN, as it turns out, is a masterpiece.
With a story as sprawling as Sergio Leone’s thematically similar Once Upon a Time in America, award-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Gangs of New York, Moneyball, Red Sparrow) uses the titular Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro) as both his framing device and primary focal point. Based on Charles Brandt’s 2001 book I Heard You Paint Houses, it’s set against the rise and fall of multiple empires – both the governmental and the more underground kind.
Thanks to the wonders of digital de-ageing (and later more practical effects), we follow the life and career of Sheeran from the 1950s where he works as a trucker turned mafia hitman after impressing mobster Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci).
After rising through the ranks, Sheeran becomes the right-hand man of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), the head of the Teamsters. The film plays out against the backdrop of a half-century of political turmoil in the US, as JFK is elected and shot, his brother Robert targets the Teamsters, and various other players come into the orbit of this powerful gang.
Bringing together all of Scorsese’s recurring themes and motifs, ones we’ve seen in Goodfellas in particular, THE IRISHMAN is captivating for the first three hours. While it might also be said that it’s a pastiche of these trademarks, it’s only in as much as Casino is a redux of Goodfellas. Having said that, last act does feel like it drags a little, but on reflection it’s about the anticlimax of a life that has watched empires rise and fall and stays standing.
Of course, the reason to watch this film is the bringing together of “Scorsese’s boys” in one place. Aided by digital de-ageing magic, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you were watching one of Scorsese’s earlier films. Or that he’d somehow time-travelled to direct a greatest hits piece with all of his pre-DiCaprio muses. DeNiro is every bit the force to be reckoned with he was in those ‘classic’ days, and Pesci is a fierce animal, but it’s amazing to see Pacino with a fire lit underneath him again. (Perhaps the only real shame is that Anna Paquin was cast and then given nothing to do).
While I was lucky enough to catch this in a (sold out) cinema, I don’t feel like it would lose too much if you choose (or have no choice) to watch it on its native Netflix. Perhaps the only thing to be said for the small(er) screen format is that you can pause it for a pee break. Otherwise this is a timely reminder of why Martin Scorsese will always be the king of the mean streets.
2019 | US | DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese | WRITERS: Steven Zaillian | CAST: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, Harvey Keitel | DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 209 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 7 November 2019 (AUS), 27 November 2019
