Dull mob opera at the root, but rich subtext and a directing tour-de-force

Rating: 8/10 (19 November 2006)

This is one of the most impressive movies I've seen at the film-making level. I'm extremely interested in the way directors build films as audiovisual evocative worlds with specific rules, more than I am in the actual stories told, so of course I enjoyed this immensely.
I can see the influence this film had on many directors, sadly the style elements that were borrowed from it (mainly the editing/score style) have been very badly executed most of the time. Strangely, I think that only french directors Gaspard Noé (in "Carne" and "Seul contre tous") and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (in "Delicatessen" and "Amélie") could pull off effective cinematic works with these editing/score structures. Since then, in mainstream cinema, these elements have mostly degenerated in a derivative mannerism without any power. Sad.
Yeah, I definitely enjoyed the ride, and took good note of many fantastic cinematic devices, some great subtext (food as philosophy, almost as a character)... but still I have complaints.
The first one is De Niro. Sorry but when I see him here, I still see an actor, not a character. I can take this when the movie takes a strong self-referential stance, deliberately using actors as actors, like in "Jackie Brown" or "Brazil" where De Niro fits perfectly. But here it doesn't work for me, I found it distracting ("hey, look, it's De Niro!").
The second one is the root substance. These mob operas generally are entertaining, but have a very shallow philosophy, follow very strict narrative conventions and don't have much to offer as culture. I even find them rather questionable as role models for adolescents.
So what we have here is brilliant thanks to the director, and the director only. Even at the acting level: yes they're good, but their acting alone wouldn't have such power showed if Scorcese had not used them as a Chess Master, moving pieces on the board.
Shallow substance, but very intelligent movie-making with power, wit and imagination. Enthralling. So much so that it's only when the movie is over that one (possibly) realizes that something is missing. A tour-de-force.