The Irishman

 When you’ve left your own personal stamp on an entire genre, you are entitled to say whatever you damn well please without some Marvel fanboy dismissing your entire filmography because you didn’t like a film they like. Not that I agree entirely with his comments, but the fact Martin Scorsese has cemented his place in movie history by influencing an entire genre, Scorsese’s opinions should be respected.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a change in tact for Quentin Tarantino whose musings over age showed a more mature side of him. Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman also shows a different side to the director. The Irishman is more slower paced than his fast-edited gangster films like Goodfelles and Gangs of New York as The Irishman is more completive and reflective film about age, morality and life choices. It marks a change from Scorsese as his epic tale about crime leaves us in no doubt that it will only end in loneliness and regret. His films have often dealt with themes of guilt but not quite in the same reflective way.

Clocking in at over 200 minutes, the film’s colossal length is what makes the final third of the film so effective. Alone and living with regret over a bitter life of crime, Frank Sheeran spends the final few years of his life with only nurses and a priest for company. After a lifetime of fearing him, his daughters never visit him. His relationship with his eldest daughter, the mostly mute Peggy (Anna Paquin), is most irreparable as she wants nothing to do with him. Paquin hasn’t got a lot to do, but her screen presence and powerful stare means her silence says more than any words can.

The final third marks a complete change in tone for the film. The first two thirds, told in flashback, is laced with dark humour – much like a man chuckling when telling his personal anecdotes. Even though the pace and editing is slower than a standard Scorsese gangster film, it still feels like a Scorsese picture. It’s not until the last thirty minutes when everything changes and it becomes a powerful and reflective film that could mark Scorsese signing off from epic crime tales.

Like Once Upon a time in America, The Irishman is an epic tale that spans across several different decades. Casting the likes of Al Pacino, Joe Pesci (persuaded out of retirement) and Robert de Niro presents problems because the actors are too old to convincingly play their younger selves. To get around the issue, Scorsese has embraced de-aging technology (ironically perfected by Marvel) to recreate the actors’ younger selves. It’s not perfect, but its convincing enough even if there are times their faces don’t look like the come from the same time as their bodies (particularly the hands which look they belong to an older person than the face suggests).

The performances are mostly exceptional. De Niro is perfectly understated, and Joe Pesci radiates menace even though he’s dialled down his usual energetic style. Al Pacino is slightly hammier than the others, but he’s also fun to watch. However, the surprise performer is Anna Paquin whose performances says a lot with so little dialogue. Encompassing several decades allows for the production designs and costume designers to shine by perfecting the set and costumes for the different eras. 

4.5/5