The Irishman [CRITERION COLLECTION] (Blu-ray) [2020] UK IMPORT

The orderly in the black trench coat and the black hat stands outside the mausoleum. Old Man Frank--the man who put other men in their coffins--is now picking out a place for his own. It's an overcast day at a Philadelphia cemetery--and a lifetime of murder has cast a pall over Old Man Frank.Our character is Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), and our adventure is Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" (2019). "The Irishman" is three and a half hours long--and it's worth every minute.Scorsese intertwines the story of "The Irishman" with American history from 1949 to 2000. In terms of style, I see reflections of the great Andrei Tarkovsky film, "Mirror" (1975). Tarkovsky weaves the story of "Mirror" with Russian history as far back as 1054.I think of the film noir classics, "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950) and "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1950). Like those two movies, "The Irishman" contrasts the beauty of the city and the evil of man. I think of the scene where Frank guns down Whispers on the sidewalk. Human nature reduces the city to an asphalt jungle."The Irishman" (2019), a gangster film that reflects Biblical truth, is a study of God's Providence and man's alienation. In God's Providence, Frank is still alive when the vast majority of his fellow gangsters aren't. Frank is also alienated--alienated from his daughter and alienated from God--and he's left alone to face the life he's lived.The great John Ford film "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) is framed by the arrival of the gunslinger Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) in his coffin, with most of the movie playing as a flashback. "The Irishman" is framed by Old Man Frank in a nursing home--with The Five Satins' 1956 classic "In the Still of the Night" playing--as he awaits the day he'll be in his coffin. Most of the story plays as a series of flashbacks with Frank narrating from the nursing home. The main characters of these two films have two things in common. Both Tom Doniphon and Frank Sheeran sling a gun--and both of them are lonely men.A major difference is that we don't get to know Tom Doniphon. We get to know Frank Sheeran--Scorsese and De Niro see to that. In the Criterion Collection special feature, "Making 'The Irishman,'" producer Jane Rosenthal says, "In the end, your heart breaks for Frank."De Niro gives his greatest performance ever as Frank Sheeran--even better than his turn as Travis Bickle in the great Scorsese film, "Taxi Driver" (1976). Both films, made 43 years apart, feature De Niro playing a driver and narrating the story. In "Taxi Driver," Travis is a Vietnam vet who drives a cab at night. In "The Irishman," Frank is a truck driver who murders men at night.Joe Pesci--in a role uncharacteristic for him--stands out as the calm but powerful mob boss Russell Bufalino. Al Pacino is very good as the volatile union leader Jimmy Hoffa, and Harvey Keitel brings an authoritative presence to his scenes as a gangster named Angelo. However, there are many other great performances--two of which I'll highlight here.Anna Paquin deserves special mention for her six-word performance as the adult Peggy, Frank's estranged daughter. Some have criticized Scorsese for giving her so little to say. I'm here to say Scorsese directs her perfectly. Want to see the price a man pays for living the life Frank has chosen? Look at Peggy.I think of the excellent but obscure Sergio Corbucci Western in the snow, "The Great Silence" (1968). The gunslinger Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is mute because somebody slit his throat. Peggy is mute because what her father has done is unspeakable. "August 3, 1975," Frank says. "That was the day she disappeared from my life."Ernest Sanders, Jr., gives a great performance as the unnamed orderly. The orderly is another silent character--he speaks no words--but in the closing stages of the film, he's there. He drives Old Man Frank all over town--to the coffin shop, to the cemetery, to the bank where Peggy works. When Frank tries to make amends with his daughters, the orderly is there. When Frank chooses his coffin and place of burial, the orderly is there. When Franks asks questions about eternity, the orderly is there.During those final 30 minutes of the film--30 of the most unforgettable minutes in cinematic history--the orderly is there."I think there's gotta be something when we go," Frank says during those last 30 minutes. "Men smarter than me can't figure it out." Questions about eternity are rarely asked on the silver screen. We don't hear any great salvation passages like Romans 10:9-13 or Ephesians 2:8-9, but through the character of Frank Sheeran, Scorsese asks those questions.Contrast that with the Scorsese classic, "Goodfellas" (1990). Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), the main character who misses the perks and the thrills of the gangster life, complains that he ordered spaghetti with marinara sauce--but instead got egg noodles and ketchup."Goodfellas" is a fast-moving train with a great rock-and-soul soundtrack. "The Irishman" makes its own music--it plays the heartstrings like a violin.I've made references to some great films in this review. Only one of them has status as my #1 movie of all time. That movie is "The Irishman" (2019).

The Irishman (também conhecido como I Heard You Paint Houses) é um filme de gângster épico americano de 2019 dirigido e produzido por Martin Scorsese a partir de um roteiro de Steven Zaillian, baseado no livro de 2004 I Heard You Paint Houses de Charles Brandt.[ 4] É estrelado por Robert De Niro, Al Pacino e Joe Pesci, com Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons e Harvey Keitel em papéis coadjuvantes. O filme segue Frank Sheeran (De Niro), um motorista de caminhão que se torna um homem de homicídios envolvido com o mafioso Russell Bufalino (Pesci) e sua família criminosa, incluindo seu tempo trabalhando para o poderoso Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). O filme marcou a nona colaboração entre Scorsese e De Niro, a quarta colaboração de Scorsese com Joe Pesci e sua primeira com Al Pacino.

Surprisingly excellent character study from mafia-film master, Martin Scorsese. The Irishman (2019) based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses (also the film's onscreen opening title) -an amusing code term for a hired killer paired with the imagery of blood splattering on the walls- is the account of hitman Frank Sheeran's rise in ranks from meat truck driver who is skimming a little too much off the top, to working for major mob boss, his unparalleled skills at killing gaining him the attention of union boss Jimmy Hoffa, their intimate friendship, and the chaotic events surrounding the notorious disappearance of Hoffa. A grand achievement of historical drama and filled with fine acting, cinematography, writing, production values and direction. Certainly has the hallmarks of a Scorsese crime film: the fractured narrative told in voice-over narration (one of the few film makers to really use this technique well), a protagonist with divided loyalty, a thick atmosphere of the criminal underworld, his use of stars De Niro, Pesci, Keitel, and the welcome addition of Pacino etc., and nostalgic use of doo-wop music; as well as his modern style of The Departed (2006), and Boardwalk Empire. Despite an underwhelming reception, perhaps due to it running three and a half hours making it a challenge to motivate one to even begin watching it, the purposeful repetitive use of images and music, or the controversial use of de-aging special effects, Scorsese fans should not be disappointed. I would say the running time and repetition conveys the grinding lifestyle and normalization of Frank's world, going a bit anticlimactic to set up an epilogue unique for a gangster film, while the special effects were barely distracting. This may not be GoodFellas (1990), but I actually liked it more than Casino (1995) and found it compelling enough to watch more than once. Criterion's Blu ray is great, it's a 2 disc set, so there is plenty of extra content, including many interviews with the stars, director and crew, making of documentary, visual essays, booklet and even more. Highly recommended.

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La película se ve de maravilla. Mucho mejor que en Netflix.Ahora bien, cabe recordar que las ediciones de Criterion no traen castellano.El diseño de la caja y el libreto también están muy bien.Totalmente recomendado.