A Moden Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (15 December 2019)

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman is a masterpiece that best epitomizes the monster film genre that was revitalized by Hollywood New Wave filmmakers throughout the 1970s-90s. Films such as The Godfather, A Bronx Tale, Scarface, Goodfellas, Bonnie and Clyde, Mean Streets, etc. At its heart, The Irishman is a story about the long term effects of being involved in the world those films listed above portray. Instead of cutting on a Henry Hill character smiling at the camera and proceeding to title cards revealing the fate of our characters. The Irishman is structured around those end title cards. Even at times having text appear next to random mobsters stating their eventual demise, which is genius by the way. By doing this, The Irishman is saying there's an alternative route to life, where gratitude and a sense of completion awaits, that can be taken in contrast to short term pleasure. It's this thematic nuance that makes films such as Citizen Kane and Once Upon A Time In America so revered. In essence, The Irishman is the film The Godfather Part III wanted to be. The Irishman is the perfect curtain call for a type of mobster film that helped reshape cinema in the late 20th century. While they'll be similar films made genre wise. I think the next generation of filmmakers, including myself, should encourage the making of films that deconstructing current activities which resemble or are a direct result of mob idealism. Corporate, Political, and Infrastructure. All while paying homage to the mobster pictures that came before.