This time last year, Scorsese fans the world over were sitting down for a new epic from the legendary director. And we mean epic – The Irishman clocked in at over three-and-a-half hours, telling the story of mob hitman Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran and the assassination of Jimmy Hoffa in a multiple-decade-spanning tale boasting the ultimate gangster cast: De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, Keitel, and more. While the film’s initial release was on Netflix (as well as theatrical presentations in certain cities), The Irishman has now been given a disc release courtesy of the Criterion Collection – a deluxe Blu-ray packed with extras. For its launch, Empire spoke to Scorsese himself about the movie, one year on – and you can read the full interview in the new issue, on sale now.
By the sounds of things, The Irishman still looms large in Scorsese’s mind – not just for the film itself, but the purity of the creative experience. It sounds like it’s a feeling he’s trying to recapture during preparation on Killers Of The Flower Moon, as the Coronavirus pandemic strips away a lot of the usual distractions.
“I like that people appreciated it. I was very touched by that,” he tells Empire of The Irishman’s reception. “This Covid, this pandemic, has stopped a creative process. I turned in on myself. Particularly the first couple of months, when we were locked in our houses, it eliminated a lot of distraction. I have to find a way to get back to a singular creative impulse for my new film the way I had for Irishman. Cut away all the award ceremonies, all that stuff, and get back to being in a room alone with a project and wondering if I can do something again. With Irishman, we achieved what I wanted to do. Whether it’s great or good or not, I don’t know. I know I could watch it. What I mean is I have to go back and find that spark. I don’t know if I can. But the pandemic has made it almost obligatory to go and find it. Because everything else is gone, normal life is not there anymore. So what do you have? You have people you love, family, and you hope, a creative spark, and maybe that can be rekindled for a new film. But I keep going back to Irishman. Thinking on Irishman. I use Irishman as… I used that experience as the lesson.”
Read Empire’s full interview with Martin Scorsese in the Mandalorian issue, on sale now – and available to order online here. The Irishman is out now on Criterion Blu-ray.