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 Set over several decades, "The Irishman" looks at a Pennsylvania
organized crime family with Oscar winners De Niro, Al Pacino and
Joe Pesci in the main roles.
The Netflix movie, which closes the BFI London Film Festival on
Sunday, uses digital de-ageing technology to show the characters
in their 30s and 40s. De Niro, Pesci and Pacino are all in their
70s.
The project is Scorsese's and De Niro's latest collaboration
following acclaimed works like "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas"
and "Casino".
"I was really looking for something with Bob (De Niro) to enrich
more or less where we had gone in the '70s and the '80s and the
early '90s," Scorsese told a news conference.
"To just replicate what we had been trying to do at the
beginning of our careers wouldn’t be enriching in any way."
The film, which runs just short of 3-1/2 hours, begins with
elderly narrator Frank Sheeran, played by De Niro, recounting
his life.
Told in flashbacks, the audience sees him as a soldier, truck
driver and eventually mob hitman after meeting organized crime
boss Russell Bufalino, played by Pesci.
The plot, based on Charles Brandt's book "I Heard You Paint
Houses", is tied to the disappearance of former U.S. Teamsters
union boss Jimmy Hoffa, portrayed by Pacino in his first
Scorsese collaboration.
"I'd known Marty and Bob a very long time so when Bob ... called
me ... it sounded really interesting and the opportunity to work
with them was very important to me," Pacino said. "For years, we
almost worked together Marty and I."
The film, which has won rave reviews from critics touting it an
Oscar contender, will have a limited theatrical run before and
after its Nov. 27 Netflix release.
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"The original conception of what a film is and where it's to be
seen has now changed so radically," Scorsese said.
"Something that should always be protected as much as possible
... is a communal experience and I think that's best in the
theater. Now homes are becoming theaters too, it's a major
change and I think one has to keep an open mind."
The 76-year-old reiterated his comparison of superhero flicks to
"theme park" films, where he said "theaters become amusement
parks".
"That's a different experience ... it's not cinema it's
something else whether you go for that or not ... and we
shouldn't be invaded by it."
Asked about watching younger versions of themselves, Pacino who
described the de-ageing effects as "a form of make-up", said:
"This whole thing is innovative of course but at the same time,
you tell a story, and in the end I'm a little more concerned
about that."
At a festival talk on Friday, De Niro reflected on his
illustrious career, shared acting tips and renewed his criticism
of U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I enjoy movies, I like the fact that ... they last forever," De
Niro said, adding he hoped to be remembered "favorably".
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Additional reporting by
Sarah Mills; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Frances
Kerry)
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