The Irishman (2019)

Directed by: Martin Scorsese | 208 minutes | biography, crime | Actors: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jesse Plemons, Anna Paquin, Joe Pesci, Stephen Graham, Bobby Canavale, Harvey Keitel, Jack Huston, Kathrine Narducci, Domenick Lombardozzi, Dascha Polanco, Aleksa Palladino, Ray Romano, Sebastian Maniscalco, Paul Ben -Victor, Jake Hoffman, Sharon Pfeiffer, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Sidnei Barboza

You would almost forget that Martin Scorsese still makes films himself due to all the #fuzz of recent times. Leading up to the premiere, the acclaimed director shared his thoughts on the hugely popular Marvel films. No cinema, Marty thought, more like an ‘amusement park’. It sparked an infernal Twitter storm, fueled mostly by soul-wrenched Marvel fanatics. This made Scorsese the center of attention, whether consciously or not. And that while the genesis of his own cinematographic work ‘The Irishman’ was much more interesting in itself with a view to the future of the film industry.

No film studio dared to continue this project: too expensive; too risky; too uncertain. Quite apart from the fact that the three-and-a-half-hour film deviates from the golden standard, Scorsese insisted that the characters in the countless flashbacks were played by the same actors. This required a digital rejuvenation technique, and with it a budget of about 150 million dollars. In uncertain times in film land, that turned out to be too great a risk (for a recent example, look at the hopelessly flopped ‘Gemini Man’, with a digitally rejuvenated Will Smith)

But then there was Netflix as Scorsese’s savior, eager as the streaming service is to replenish the collection with new work from living legends. But the eternal streaming paradox quickly presented itself: great that this project got off the ground; it’s a shame that the options to see this monumental crime epic in the cinema are so limited.

Many viewers are therefore likely to split the film into multiple viewings, as a three-and-a-half hour session may seem too intense. Therefore a short instruction: Lesson 1: see where the film is showing in the cinema and buy a ticket as soon as possible. Lesson 2: watch the film in one go, possibly with a few (ultra-short) bathroom breaks. After all, ‘The Irishman’ is a classic cinematic epic that absolutely deserves to be viewed in one sitting, preferably on the largest screen possible.

Scorsese took inspiration for ‘The Irishman’ from ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’, a non-fiction book about Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), who spent decades as a ‘handyman’ for the Italian mob, under the tutelage of high-ranking mob boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci, back from his ‘acting retirement’). In the early 1960s, the latter put him in touch with wildly popular union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Sheeran becomes Hoffa’s personal bodyguard, until the fragile Mafia-union coalition begins to crack, and Sheeran becomes entangled between the two camps.

It’s not surprising that Sheeran’s story inspired the director, as this ultimate middle man is a classic Scorsese character in all things, moving mostly in the background, often confronted with power plays that are beyond him. He never becomes a capo, he remains the man behind other men, mainly doing ‘dirty’ jobs. And what face lends itself better to this than the unfathomable face of De Niro? His moral compass is only gently cranked by his estranged daughter Peggy (Anna Paquin, silent for most of the film, but all the more impressive that way).

The actors are in great shape anyway. Pesci makes a glorious return as a remarkably restrained, controlled mafia boss: a stark contrast to his earlier, often coarse-mouthed roles. And yet it is mainly Pacino who steals the show. In recent years, he has mainly appeared in the wrong films that hardly anyone has seen, often squandering his talent. As a passionate trade unionist, Pacino certainly does not shy away from the exuberance in ‘The Irishman’, but in the end it is mainly Hoffa’s tragedy and extreme possession that sticks.

What is also striking is the strong hint of melancholy and melancholy that hangs over the film. In many ways ‘The Irishman’ is therefore also a kind of swan song for those involved. Scorsese will no doubt continue to make films, and Pacino and De Niro still seem far too vital to stop, but the question is whether they will ever flourish as they do here. See the two acting legends arguing in their pajamas, for example, and mirror it to their famed restaurant scene in ‘Heat’. It may look more silly and endearing: it has not lost any of its strength.

‘The Irishman’ is also brimming with references to Scorsese’s own oeuvre; just place the opening scene next to the Copacabana sequence in ‘Goodfellas’. Apparently ‘The Irishman’ has a lot in common with his ultimate gangster classic, albeit more melancholic, more critical and more tragic. In the last part, for example, we see Sheeran for a remarkably long time as an elderly man who looks back on his life. ‘The Irishman’ has little to do with glorification of the gangster existence, it is ultimately the question of guilt that hangs around the characters like a damp blanket.

What remains are ramshackle elderly people who look back with melancholy, resentment or resentment at a life full of (wrong?) decisions. Fortunately, that is not the case with Scorsese himself. ‘The Irishman’ is in many ways a culmination of all his earlier work, as much as a (presumably) final tour de force of the protagonists. ‘The Irishman’ revolves around old men looking back on a life that will pass. It is most likely not an actual swan song, a symbolic one all the more so.