‘The Irishman’ Is Yet Another Scorsese Essential

by Jack Miller ‘21

Martin Scorsese has always been an important voice in the film industry. The 77 year-old auteur’s filmography spans five decades and includes many of America’s most acclaimed and influential films, including “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” and plenty more. He’s the man behind the World Cinema Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of films from across the world. His contributions to the industry have earned him countless accolades, including multiple lifetime achievement awards. Simply put, his impact on the art form is undeniable. 

Scorsese’s latest film, “The Irishman,” further solidifies his place in cinema history. The film follows the titular Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) as he recounts his life as a mafia hitman from a nursing home wheelchair. Sheeran narrates over a massive 209-minute runtime, focusing primarily on his decade-spanning involvement with Sicilian mafioso Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Blending the sprawling story of real-life Frank Sheeran’s quasi-memoir, “I Heard You Paint Houses,” with the fascinating history behind Jimmy Hoffa and his shady labor union, Scorsese creates yet another riveting mob story, permeated by the violence, corruption, and betrayal found in his previous crime films. The first two and a half hours of “The Irishman” are typical Scorsese mob fare––it has his trademark quippy dialogue, eccentric characters, bloody slayings, snappy camera movements, and quick-paced montages as Frank makes his way through the mafia world. Thelma Schoonmaker’s flawless editing and Rodrigo Prieto’s lively photography help the film feel as fresh and exciting as any of the director’s previous crime flicks. The first few acts are as captivating, charming, and expertly crafted as one has come to expect from Scorsese, but they don’t always feel as substantial as his classics. That’s because the first half of the film is simply a grand setup for the remarkable conclusion, in which the film mutates into something far more profound and powerful. The gripping final hour kicks off with one of Scorsese’s most thrilling and intricately designed sequences to date. Ditching the swift and energetic pace of the first few acts, Scorsese forces an unsuspecting audience to endure a quiet and calculated 30-minute buildup of cold-blooded suspense. Complete with uneasy humor, haunting foreshadowing, and an unshakeable sense of dread, this sequence and its powerful payoff are the perfect segue to the film’s phenomenal finale. Without giving too much away, the melancholy conclusion sees Scorsese confront aging, legacies, and mortality in a stirring and sorrowful manner. It’s an astonishingly poignant and the perfect end to Scorsese’s crime-film career.

The film utilizes revolutionary de-aging technology to make its three leads, who are all past their mid-70s, appear decades younger than they are. Though a fresh-faced De Niro can look a bit peculiar at first, the effects-work becomes more impressive and less conspicuous as the film progresses. Moments of shoddy CGI are made less distracting by the outstanding performances. De Niro gives his best performance in decades as the aged Sheeran. He plays the classic Scorsese tough-guy role with as much hyper-masculine vitality as he did in his “Goodfellas”-days, but his depiction of the remorse and loneliness of age in the latter half of the film exceeds all of his previous portrayals in complexity and sentimentality. Pesci, who came out of a decade-long retirement for the role, is equally superb as the intimidating Russell Bufalino. Whereas his most famous roles had him playing unhinged characters and yelping violent profanities, Pesci opts for a far more subtle and intricate approach to depict the powerful mafioso. Pacino brings the infamous Hoffa to life with a delightfully tender and comedic flair, his performance elevating many great scenes to greater levels of humanity and hilarity. 

Though some moments of awkward visual effects and a couple of less-than-necessary scenes prevent it from being as flawless as Scorsese’s earlier works, “The Irishman” is a true marvel. It’s as entertaining, stylish, and polished as his classics; it’s just a whole lot sadder. And longer. It’s on Netflix now, so be sure to give it a watch if you ever have 3 and a half hours to spare.

 

Grade: A