A mafia movie that takes the time to talk about different topics in life

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2020)

Martin Scorsese grew up making gangster movies, for over 40 years he became the mainstay of modern gangster movies, along with Coppola marked a before and after in the genre, Scorsese immortalized gangster movies with Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino, films full of moral dilemmas, corrupt and proud characters and the typical final act of the film of the descent into misery. The Irishman brings all these elements together in a more existentialist and reflective way, despite being a movie about the mafia it feels more two-dimensional than most crime movies, especially because it is a very personal story told by Scorsese himself, unlike most mafia movies, The Irishman takes time to reflect on the passage of time, repentance, devotion, loyalty, and oblivion, all these doubts drown Scorsese and the main actors of the film who they have reached old age and are reflecting on their own lives.
The Irishman has all the features of the Scorsese cinema, long shots, sharp and precise dialogues and dynamic camera movements, every time there is a shooting Scorsese manages to make it look more stylized than the previous one, we all know that the scenes of the Scorsese movies where the violence overflows are excellent, except for the scene of Frank kicking a man in the wax, De Niro's performance is quite disappointing considering that he is a 78-year-old man playing someone in his thirties. Like any Scorsese film, the story is marked by one betrayal after another, the mafia world is not the best to trust other people, loyalty is ephemeral, except that of Russel and Frank that is maintained until the end, when someone makes mistakes the mafia has no other solution than death, Frank was on the verge of making mistakes on multiple occasions but Russel was always there to rescue him as a sign of his true loyalty.
The Irishman has an unconventional epilogue for the Scorsese films, we are used to seeing a spiral descent by the characters into madness or misery, or in both directions as is the case with Goodfellas. The Irishman for his part presents a reflective, emotional, sad and cold epilogue, Frank is alone in an old age telling us his story but continues to remain faithful to his ideals, this is demonstrated when he prefers not to tell the police about Jimmy Hoffa even after that all the mafia he knew is dead, that is his loyalty to his religion, the mafia.
There are several peculiar scenes in this epilogue filled with a strong emotional charge, the ending leaves a strange feeling of mixed feelings, nostalgia, euphoria or confusion, but above all satisfied when seeing a film that refreshes the current cinema as only Scorsese could have done.