I watched Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ last night: in a word, ‘superb’. As soon as it finished, I posted a short tweet (@kobysstars), said that, for me, it’s up there with ‘Goodfellas’, I “wow”’d the acting and the soundtrack, lauded Scorsese as a genius and left it there… BUT I woke up this morning and not only did the sun dawn on me but so did this realisation: ‘The Irishman’ is more than superb, it is, IMHO, a masterpiece. Up there with ‘Goodfellas’? Higher: I think it’s up there with the ‘TheGodfather’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In America’.
I’m so happy that I feel that way! In the genre, by virtue of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In America’, I had Francis Ford Coppola and Sergio Leone at the top of the tree. I love Martin Scorsese and now, for me, ‘The Irishman’ puts him up there with Coppola and Leone and that is only right.
So, here it is: in no particular order, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, their acting performances are outstanding, awesome, mesmerising. The chemistry between them is quite magical, miraculous, it really is something to behold, to witness.
I’ve read reviews of ‘The Irishman’ which say that the film is too long – not for me it ain’t! Not a minute too long! I was engrossed, immersed in the film, it was a joy that I did not want to end.
Scorsese is not just a genius, he’s a pro, a perfectionist, and the stars were miraculously aligned when these guys, Scorsese, Pesci, Pacino and De Niro, everyone involved in creating and constructing this film, their films, the stars were aligned when they came together.
An aside, and a book recommendation: I’m currently reading Selwyn Raab’s ‘Five Families’, which is about New York’s ‘Big Five’ Mafia families/borgatas: in alphabetical order, Bonnano, Columbo, Gambino, Genovese and Luccese. It, too, is a masterpiece.
Slight spoiler: we see characters from this history, e.g. ‘Fat Tony’ Salerno, ‘Crazy Joe’ Gallo, we see Albert Anastasia, sitting comfortably in the barber’s chair, and there’s the infamous execution. My ‘knowing’ these guys, it really added to my enjoyment of the film.
A couple of call outs: the soundtrack. No surprise, this is a Scorsese film, but I have to say, it is fantastic! And the makeup and hair team, wow – massive wow! What they did has to be seen to be believed!
I could go on, waxing lyrical about this great, truly great, film but no need – I think I’ve made my point: I love it! It’s a work of genius, team genius, and I honestly feel blessed to be around at the same time as these guys, blessed to be around to see this film.
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