The surprising Martin Scorsese movie Guillermo del Toro called a “masterpiece”
One of the greatest living auteurs, Martin Scorsese, has many classic films to his name. Whether it be the dark psychological hypnosis of Taxi Driver, the realistic crime of Goodfellas or the humorous parameters of The King of Comedy, the New Yorker has covered many bases in his time. According to fellow filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, one of his more divisive recent films is also worthy of the “masterpiece” tag.
It’s indicative of the film in question’s power, as although del Toro has a highly distinct and dark style, he’s also a lifelong lover of great cinema in all its forms. The movie is 2019’s The Irishman, the epic gangster romp that took Scorsese years to bring to life, featuring an all-star cast of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci – his three most prominent regular collaborators.
The film follows the truck driver Frank Sheeran (De Niro), who becomes a hitman involved with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family, including working for the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffer (Pacino).
In a 13-tweet thread shared in 2019, Guillermo del Toro praised The Irishman and even compared it to Stanley Kubrick’s celebrated 1975 period piece, Barry Lyndon. Labelling it a “masterpiece”, the director said it was best seen in a cinema and dismissed the film’s extensive 209-minute run-time, saying it went by quickly.
“This film needs time- however- it has to be processed like a real mourning. It will come up in stages… I believe most of its power will sink in, in time, and provoke a true realisation. A masterpiece,” del Toro wrote. “See it. In a theatre. This movie languished in development in studio vaults for so long… having it here now is a miracle. And, btw- fastest 3 hours in a cinema. Do not miss it.”
The director particularly loved Joe Pesci’s performance. He called it “masterful”, whilst also praising De Niro’s efforts in the film. “Pesci [is] supremely minimalistic. Masterful. He is like a black hole- an attractor of planets- dark matter. DeNiro has always fascinated me when he plays characters that are punching above their true weight – or intelligence,” he continued.
Del Toro added: “An interesting transfer between these characters: Pesci- who has played the Machiavellian monster, regains a senile innocence, a benign oblivion and De Niro’s character – who has operated in a moral blank- gains enough awareness – to feel bitter loneliness.”
“It is about lives that came and went, with all their turmoil, all their drama and violence and noise and loss… and how they invariably fade, like we all do,” the Pan’s Labryinth director later said of the meaning behind The Irishman. “The film is a mausoleum of myths: a Funereal monument that stands to crush the bones beneath it. Granite is meant to last, but we still turn to dust inside it.”
