Another masterpiece from the masters of the gangster genre

Rating: 8/10 (9 November 2019)

So Martin Scorsese and the co created their next masterpiece. "The Irishman" was shot in the best tradition of Scorsese's biggest gangster flicks - "Goodfellas" and "Casino". Like them, "The Irishman" is also based on real events and spans several decades from the life of the Italian mafia.
The first half of the film turned out to be very dynamic - in the classic Scorsese style, with sharp transitions from one scene to another, accompanied by jazz and blues pieces, with De Niro's off-screen narration. The second half slows down a little and is more focused.
The stellar cast has fully justified its presence. This is the fourth joint De Niro-Pacino film (also the ninth one by Scorsese with De Niro, the fourth with Pesci, and the sixth with Harvey Keitel), and here they have more screen time than in other joint films.
Pacino plays the role of Jimmy Hoffa - the leader of the truckers union tied with the Italian mafia. This is Pacino's most prominent role over the past decade. Recently, he played in rather mediocre films, or small parts in big films. In "The Irishman", he returned to his typical role as a tough and unprincipled character.
De Niro plays Frank Sheeran (on behalf of who the book was written on which the film is based) - a trucker, who later became a close friend of Hoffa and his bodyguard. For De Niro, this role also became a return to his origins - he hadn't played gangsters for a long time (with the exception of "Heist" (2015), perhaps) and hadn't acted in Scorsese films for more than 20 years, playing more "good" roles. Although he plays the role of the mafia "pawn", following its instructions, his character is no less cruel than Ace from "Casino".
Joe Pesci plays the role of the Italian mafioso Russell Bufalino, who combined De Niro and Pacino characters. This is the first Pesci role after an almost 10-year hiatus. At first, he didn't even want to appear in "The Irishman", but Scorsese and De Niro eventually persuaded him. It is rather atypical for Scorsese films, when Pesci does not play the role of a thug with an explosive temperament, from whom you do not know what to expect. Here he doesn't kill anyone, entrusting it to the others. He is more cold-blooded and prefers to keep a low profile.
The whole plot revolves around this particular trinity.
Harvey Keitel has only about 3 scenes for the whole film - he plays the boss of the Italian mafia. His appearance and way of talking, by the way, reminded me of Brando's Don Corleone.
I really liked the way the actors were rejuvenated by means of CGI. De Niro looked like a 30-year-old - as if you watch him in "The Taxi Driver" period. Like in "Once Upon a Time in America", De Niro goes through several stages of age - from a young and energetic gangster to a deep old man. Once again, he showed the ingenious skill of disguise.
In terms of cruelty, this is a more restrained Scorsese film. There's much less violence than in the above-mentioned films, and it is not that expressive. Mostly the characters use guns and do everything quickly and clearly. Accordingly, there are no scenes similar to those from "Casino", when Pesci character attacked a guy with a pen who was insolent to Ace. The fake blood is completely made with CGI as well, for this reason the murder scenes lack the very realism of Scorsese's previous gangster flicks.
In general, this is one of Scorsese's best films. I would say that this is his best film since "Casino".