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24th Sep 2017

First look at Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese’s new gangster epic

Paul Moore

This is going to be amazing.

Certain directors absolutely love working with the same group of actors.

For example, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine are frequently cast in Christopher Nolan’s films and it’s very rare to see a film by the Coen brothers that doesn’t feature an appearance from the likes of John Goodman, Steve Buscemi or John Turturro.

In terms of collaborating with the same actors, Martin Scorsese is the master of directing superb performances from his cast and while Leonardo DiCaprio has become his on-screen muse in recent years, there’s no denying the remarkable films that he made with Robert DeNiro.

Mean Streets, The King of Comedy, Casino, Cape Fear, Raging Bull and Taxi Driver are just some of the classic films that they’ve made together, but to many, Goodfellas will always be their finest feature.

Well, it’s time to get excited because the Oscar-winning director is back working with De Niro for the first time in 22 years and that’s not all. Al Pacino and the superb Joe Pesci will also be featuring in Scorsese’s new gangster epic.

Based on a book by Charles Brandt, The Irishman traces the life of real-life reputed mob hitman Frank Sheeran (De Niro), who among other things claimed to have been involved in the 1975 disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, a mystery that to this day remains unsolved.

Speaking with The Independent, the director of The Departed and The Wolf of Wall Street said that his new feature will be very different to the other gangster films that he has made.

“This is different, I think it is. I admit that there are – you know, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Casino‘ have a certain style that I created for them – it’s on the page in the script actually.  Putting Goodfellas together was almost like an afterthought, at times I was kind of rushing, I felt I’d already done it because I’d played it all out in terms of the camera moves and the editing and that sort of thing. The style of the picture, the cuts, the freeze-frames, all of this was planned way in advance, but here it’s a little different.”

Given the fact that Netflix invested $100m in The Irishman before production even started, it’s clear that they’re extremely confident that they’ve got a massive hit on their hands.

Well, to be honest, even seeing these three men working together again is enough reason to get excited!

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