Thanks, Roy. Scorsese is my favorite living director and I’ve heard from others who’ve seen it that as the film progresses a sour, elegiac tone develops, a far cry from the ebullience of Goodfellas. That tone seems appropriate to me. I’m looking forward to seeing it this Wednesday.
It's a shame Scorsese can't enjoy straight ahead Hollywood fantasy action for what it is. His loss. Even the best American film makers like Scorsese can't escape the classic storyline: protagonist goes about his life, something happens to challenge him, he deals with setbacks, helpers and tricksters, then at the climax he gets what he needs and/or what he wants or neither. Audiences find that last ending, where he gets neither what he wants or needs, depressing. Because it is. Europeans, with more history of rise and fall, accept it more readily but Americans think history - his story - is always about winning. I like the emotional high from the winning stories and also the slap in the face of the failure stories. But then, I also like three hour slow moving films with little or no "action" (blood, guts) like Magnolia or Eyes Wide Shut. It all depends on the day, my frame of mind, how everyone in my family and friends are doing. I appreciate your recommendation and it's accompanying warning.
Eh. I’m getting a problem, in Art as well as reality, with things being built up as Important but no, the world keeps on going without change from the current entropy. So there’s all the build up, all the sound and fury and then nothing really justifying it.
Meanwhile, on NCIS last week, a black character explained to a couple of honkies how the system ticks over young blacks. I mean, the explanation was deeply reality based. I mean, fucking NCIS of all shows.
I felt the same way about Casino--not that there was no "hero," but that there was barely a protagonist. And not much plot, either. Without Sharon Stone's incendiary perf (which veers close to Faye Dunaway's in Mommy Dearest), the whole movie would be, to paraphrase what someone said comparing a bad to a good skyscraper, the box Goodfellas came in.
The first time I saw Goodfellas I was 21 and high as hell, and cackled giddy all the way through it. Every subsequent viewing retains that spirit -- I notice the horror, but the thorough absurdity just bounces me along. The Irishman is opposite -- the humor is only on the surface, a thin mask over the horror. By the end there is no escape.
As to Scorsese dismissing Marvel -- we see a lot more truth about people under frightening pressure in this 3.5 hours (a handful of lives at stake) than across the whole ~50 hours of Marvel (half the universe wiped out). It's hard to imagine even the biggest fan of Infinity War wouldn't concede that -- or anyway, a fan old enough to suspect there might be no superhuman escape from his life.
And we've got three or four great performances here (guy who played Tony Pro nails it). But the de-aging makes the acting feel mediated, so I'm not sure how award-worthy it is. I mean, if Pesci emphasizes a point with a subtle smile, did Pesci do it? Or did it happen in post? I give Scorsese the benefit of the doubt, but de-aging better not become the industry standard. Overall, great or near-great though it is, I'm in no rush to rewatch The Irishman. Like the Suspiria remake, which I also respected the hell out of, it felt too long and too dark. I will go back -- but not for years.
Thanks, Roy. Scorsese is my favorite living director and I’ve heard from others who’ve seen it that as the film progresses a sour, elegiac tone develops, a far cry from the ebullience of Goodfellas. That tone seems appropriate to me. I’m looking forward to seeing it this Wednesday.
Good stuff, and thanks for the Sopranos link.
It's a shame Scorsese can't enjoy straight ahead Hollywood fantasy action for what it is. His loss. Even the best American film makers like Scorsese can't escape the classic storyline: protagonist goes about his life, something happens to challenge him, he deals with setbacks, helpers and tricksters, then at the climax he gets what he needs and/or what he wants or neither. Audiences find that last ending, where he gets neither what he wants or needs, depressing. Because it is. Europeans, with more history of rise and fall, accept it more readily but Americans think history - his story - is always about winning. I like the emotional high from the winning stories and also the slap in the face of the failure stories. But then, I also like three hour slow moving films with little or no "action" (blood, guts) like Magnolia or Eyes Wide Shut. It all depends on the day, my frame of mind, how everyone in my family and friends are doing. I appreciate your recommendation and it's accompanying warning.
Eh. I’m getting a problem, in Art as well as reality, with things being built up as Important but no, the world keeps on going without change from the current entropy. So there’s all the build up, all the sound and fury and then nothing really justifying it.
Meanwhile, on NCIS last week, a black character explained to a couple of honkies how the system ticks over young blacks. I mean, the explanation was deeply reality based. I mean, fucking NCIS of all shows.
I felt the same way about Casino--not that there was no "hero," but that there was barely a protagonist. And not much plot, either. Without Sharon Stone's incendiary perf (which veers close to Faye Dunaway's in Mommy Dearest), the whole movie would be, to paraphrase what someone said comparing a bad to a good skyscraper, the box Goodfellas came in.
The first time I saw Goodfellas I was 21 and high as hell, and cackled giddy all the way through it. Every subsequent viewing retains that spirit -- I notice the horror, but the thorough absurdity just bounces me along. The Irishman is opposite -- the humor is only on the surface, a thin mask over the horror. By the end there is no escape.
As to Scorsese dismissing Marvel -- we see a lot more truth about people under frightening pressure in this 3.5 hours (a handful of lives at stake) than across the whole ~50 hours of Marvel (half the universe wiped out). It's hard to imagine even the biggest fan of Infinity War wouldn't concede that -- or anyway, a fan old enough to suspect there might be no superhuman escape from his life.
And we've got three or four great performances here (guy who played Tony Pro nails it). But the de-aging makes the acting feel mediated, so I'm not sure how award-worthy it is. I mean, if Pesci emphasizes a point with a subtle smile, did Pesci do it? Or did it happen in post? I give Scorsese the benefit of the doubt, but de-aging better not become the industry standard. Overall, great or near-great though it is, I'm in no rush to rewatch The Irishman. Like the Suspiria remake, which I also respected the hell out of, it felt too long and too dark. I will go back -- but not for years.