The Irishman
Ratings: 4/5
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producer(s): Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Irwin Winkler, Gerald Chamales, Gastón Pavlovich, Randall Emmett, Gabriele Israilovici
Genre: Crime/Drama
Release Date: 1st November, 2019 (theatres), 27th November, 2019 (Netlflix)
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Star Cast: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
Plot:
The movie tells an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th Century. Spanning decades, the film chronicles one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history, the disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and offers a monumental journey through the hidden corridors of organized crime: its inner workings, rivalries and connections to mainstream politics.
Review:
This is the first organised crime film made by Martin Scorsese to star not only his long-time colleagues Robert De Nero, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel but also the iconic Al Pacino, whom Scorsese has never previously directed.
The setting goes way back in 1950s. Truck driver Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran (De Niro) gets involved with Russell ‘McGee’ Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family based out of Pennsylvania. As Sheeran rises up the ranks to become a top dog hit man, he comes in the good books of Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino) -- a powerful truck drivers' union boss man who is tied to organised crime. The story revolves around what happens between these hard men as they smoke and drink and dream and kill.
The softer moments of ‘The Irishman’ contrary to the genre, offers a sense of relief. Hoffa and Frank are such close companions that they share a hotel bedroom, and, as the nation’s most powerful union boss stands there in pyjamas, brushing his teeth, the two men seem more like a nice old married couple.
Talking about Scorsese’s direction, which shifts between eras, using dialogue and voice-over to make the time-jumps seamless. The frame-within-a-frame-within-a-frame structure is one of the most complex of Scorsese's directorial career.
Several characters are introduced with breathless on-screen headlines, detailing their names and the hour of their deaths- some natural, many more violent.
Production designer Bob Shaw and costume designers Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson ensure that each episode of prime importance has a clear sense of time and place. For all its flash-back/flash-forward manoeuvres, The Irishman rarely seems out-of-track.
