Unsurprisingly, Martin Scorsese Does Not Think 'The Irishman' Should Be A TV Show
Anyone who feels intimated by the runtime of Martin Scorsese's latest film, mob epic The Irishman, should know that he expects you to sit through the whole thing in one sitting.
The Netflix Original, which clocks in at a buttock-numbing three-and-a-half-hours, stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, with each actor playing his younger self in flashbacks chronicled by De Niro's elderly ex-hitman, Frank Sheeran, as he reflects on his criminal life from a nursing home.
And it turns out that a director who's widely recognised as one of cinema's greatest ever practitioners didn't wind up with that runtime by accident. When asked by Entertainment Weekly whether it might not have made sense to try it as a TV show, Scorsese wasn't exactly full of regret at the version he wound up with."You could say, 'This is a long story, you can play it out over two seasons' – I saw somebody mention that," he said. "Absolutely no. I've never even thought of it. Because the point of this picture is the accumulation of detail. It's an accumulated, cumulative effect by the end of the movie – which means you get to see from beginning to end [in one sitting] if you're so inclined."
"A series is great, it's wonderful, you can develop character and plot lines and worlds are recreated," he added. "But this wasn't right for that."
The vertiginous runtime is partly thanks to the film's unexpected backers, Netflix, who afforded Scorsese level of creative control that even he couldn't find at a traditional studio. This also meant he was able to get the final shot that he wanted, rather than having to compromise with something more marketable.
"A man in a wheelchair at the end? No. Yeah. Not gonna happen. [A traditional studio is] geared toward the most amount of money you can make – understandably. I think it's gone askew." We're siding with Marty on this one.
The Irishman is now available to stream on Netflix, and still in cinemas.
You Might Also Like
