Martin Scorsese on why series format wasn’t ideal for ‘The Irishman’

PTI, Dec 1, 2019, 2:55 PM IST

Los Angeles: Veteran filmmaker Martin Scorsese does not believe that his latest directorial “The Irishman” could have been told in a series format.

With a runtime of 3 hours and 29 minutes, the film is one of the longest features of recent times.

Some people have argued that the film’s story could have played in a mini-series format or developed over two seasons.

But Scorsese never envisioned “The Irishman” as a series, since he wanted to tell the story in one go.

“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,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

“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,” he added.

“The Irishman” features veteran actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in the lead.

The film, based on Charles Brandt’s 2004 Sheeran memoir, “I Heard You Paint Houses”, chronicles the life story of legendary hit-man for the Bufalino crime family, Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran (De Niro) and his role in the disappearance of the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).

It started streaming on Netflix from November 27.