After lots of time spent waiting, Martin Scorsese‘s “The Irishman” has finally arrived. Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino tell the story of Frank Sheeran, a real person who was tied to the Bufalino crime family with Jimmy Hoffa in the mid-to-late 20th century. Through Scorsese’s lens, The Irishman takes three and a half hours to tell the story of Sheeran’s life and his encounters with organized crime but for some, that runtime can feel daunting. Scorsese pointed out in a recent interview, there’s a good reason for The Irishman not being turned into a TV series in light of the long runtime.
“You could say, ‘This is a long story, you can play it out over two seasons’ — I saw somebody mention that. Absolutely no. I’ve never even thought of it. Because the point of this picture is the accumulation of detail. It’s an accumulated cumulative effect by the end of the movie — which means you get to see from beginning to end [in one sitting] if you’re so inclined. A series is great, it’s wonderful, you can develop character and plot lines and worlds are recreated. But this wasn’t right for that.” Says Scorsese.
Scorsese’s explanation does make sense when viewed from this angle, but some have offered up ways to chop up The Irishman into “episodes” to make it easier for busy folks and parents to watch. “The movie is focused on someone’s life, a person’s evolution and because of what they’ve been through, their development of certain aspects it is necessary to watch that in one sitting for maximum impact.” Guess its up for the viewers to decide. The Irishman is currently available to stream on Netflix.
