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one more picture to make, at least,
and he was really connected with
the character.”
Netflix, the patron saint of needy
projects with established fandoms,
rescued The Irishman in 2017,
bankrolling its $159 million bud-
get. The company is giving the film
an unusual rollout—a few weeks in
theaters starting Nov. 1 to qualify
for the Oscars and give fans a
chance to catch the film on the big
screen, before debuting on the
streaming service Nov. 27. Netflix
also helped lock down the elusive
Pesci. “Prior to that, it was almost
like putting on a show in the barn,”
Scorsese says.
The result ranks as Scorsese’s
best-reviewed drama ever. The
Irishman’s risky reliance on de-
aging technology has been deemed
largely successful, though it takes a
few minutes for viewers to, well,
fuhgeddaboutit. “I was a little anx-
ious,” De Niro admits about the
process. “It took work going over it
and correcting it. It looks good.”
The least de-aged lead character
is Hoffa, as Pacino makes his bom-
bastic entrance a third of the way
into the story, which spans from
the 1940s to well past the union
leader’s infamous 1975 disappear-
ance. Pacino has worked with his
longtime friend De Niro on The
Godfather Part II (though they
never shared a scene), Heat (frus-
tratingly sharing just one scene),
and Righteous Kill (which was
widely panned). Here, they finally
get plenty of screen time together
and deliver their A-games.
“These [characters] really like
each other, and that was some-
thing for us to play off—we feel
that way about each other,” says
Pacino, who listened to recordings
of the real Hoffa between takes.
And as for his first time working
with Scorsese, the actor describes
the set as preternaturally calm.
“Marty has a very quiet set and
that’s part of what he demands,”
Pacino says. “I’ve never met a
Scorsese’s Mafia Cinematic Uni-
verse. Yet De Niro and Scorsese say
they’re open to doing one more
crime movie together, and hope-
fully it won’t take another 24 years.
“As a filmmaker, what else can
you learn about yourself and this
subject matter with these charac-
ters in this world?” Scorsese
muses. “You may find that you’ve
done it. I hope to explore a little
more, if I have time.”
You know what they say:
Every time you think you’re out...
—James Hibberd
DIRECTED BY Martin Scorsese
STARRING Robert De Niro, Al Pacino,
Joe Pesci IN THEATERS Nov. 1
UNTOLD STORIES
Scorsese Edition
Mean Streets 1973
Scorsese has made nine
movies with Robert De Niro,
starting with this gritty
drama, and recalls the very
first time they met, at a
dinner party. Appropriately
enough, they bonded over
a New York street. “I know
who you are,” De Niro said.
Scorsese remembers reply-
ing, “Oh, you’re Bobby!”
and name-dropping the
street where the actor used
to hang out. De Niro had
seen the director’s romance
Who’s That Knocking at
My Door. “Not a good film,”
Scorsese says candidly,
“but he knew I had a direct
relationship with where I
came from and I was able
to express that on film.”
Goodfellas 1990
The film reportedly earned
the lowest score in Warner
Bros.’ history during a
preview in Orange County,
Calif. Blame the film’s
opening scene, where Joe
Pesci’s Tommy repeatedly
stabs a gangster with a
kitchen knife. The preview
version showed 10 stabs;
the final cut, four. “After the
first two [stabs], people
started leaving,” the direc-
tor says. Then there was
the kitchen scene between
the gangsters and Tommy’s
mother (played by Scorse-
se’s mom, Catherine).
“The [one] thing everybody
liked was the scene with
my mother,” he says. “So
we kept that.”
The Departed 2006
The thriller earned Scor-
sese his first Oscar for Best
Director. But fans have
long wondered about that
cryptic final declaration
made by undercover opera-
tive Billy Costigan (Leo-
nardo DiCaprio) to corrupt
cop Colin Sullivan (Matt
Damon) in the climactic
elevator scene: “I am killing
you.” As they were, um,
interrupted a moment later,
did Costigan mean that by
arresting Sullivan he’s put-
ting an end to his treach-
ery? Or that he was literally
planning to whack him?
“Costigan was going to turn
him in,” Scorsese says. “He
was going by the book; he’s
trying to be a good man.”
director who is so suited to the
profession and so natural in that
environment. It’s comforting.”
Less comforting are the film’s
final 20 minutes, which shift into
surprising territory compared to
Scorsese’s earlier propulsive crime
epics. The film lingers on Sheeran’s
introspection and regret as he
advances into old age. It’s another
aspect the director says a tradi-
tional studio would not allow (“A
man in a wheelchair at the end?
Yeah, no, not gonna happen”). The
heartbreaking denouement leaves
audiences feeling like they’re not
just witnessing the end of The Irish-
man but an unofficial conclusion to
EW ● COM NOVEMBER 2019 39
MEAN STREETS
, GOODFELLAS
: EVERETT COLLECTION (2);
THE DEPARTED
: ANDREW COOPER
