What is Martin Scorsese’s lost film ‘Goncharov?’

Martin Scorsese‘s 1973 masterpiece Goncharov was a worldwide sensation, and if you don’t remember ever seeing it in the cinemas well — you’d be correct. This flick actually never received marketing at all, and while that may seem like a faulty strategy, it is simply because the movie never even existed.

In good ol’ Tumblr fashion, a meme that should have never seen the light of day has been receiving a lot of attention after a containment breach, and that is Scorsese’s early period film, Goncharov. In reality, this metafiction movie was made up by Tumblr users, user zootycoon purchased some knock-off shoes which included some odd information about Scorsese. The boots allegedly entitled Scorsese’s Goncharov as “the greatest mafia movie ever made.” As it would appear, Scorsese was just starting to make a name for himself that same year by releasing Mean Streets.

Many users were quick to discover that the name was most likely a misspelling of the 2008 Italian mafia drama Gamorrah, which was endorsed by the New York based director. Regardless, and much to everyone’s delight, users on social media disregarded this information as they created a poster, a soundtrack and stills from the film using an AI generator, letting their improvisational creative exercise run amok. So, what is this fictional movie about fictional characters all about?

What is Gancharov about?

Spoilers ahead.

In spite of it inherently not existing, Goncharov is allegedly a historical epic, post-war mafia film directed by Scorsese. The film stars Robert De Niro as Lo Straniero / Goncharov, Al Pacino as Mario Ambrosini and Gene Hackman as Valery Michailov. This story follows Goncharov’s journey as a Russian mafia boss in Naples. He has a strained relationship with his fiancée, Katya, and an even more complicated relationship with his partner in crime, slash rival, slash old friend, Andrey, portrayed by Harvey Keitel. Naturally, this story has incredibly complex subtextual homoerotic tension between Goncharov and Andrey, to the point where this nemesis sexual tension turns to the duo attempting to murder one another — because why not.

To add even more depth to this story, the homoeroticism subtext does not end with Goncharov and Andrey’s intense relationship. Katya, Goncharov’s wife, is also in a complicated relationship with Sofia, who has brown hair allegedly, with their relationship deepening as they appear to be more than friends throughout the entire movie. This movie offers the perfect study subject for any film student, as the clock motif reflects the inevitability of death in which the litany of colorful side characters will all be experiencing in a near future.

The clock motif interpretation goes well beyond just the side characters. The main lead, Goncharov, is one actually part of the group of people that finds his demise sooner than expected. Albeit it isn’t disclosed who exactly might have done it, Goncharov finds his ending after being betrayed by someone.

Goncharov was also heavily influenced by the American Cold War propaganda, and some may argue that it plays right into the stereotypes of Russian society. Regardless, there are many that conquer this belief, defending that it is a “clever subversion of the propaganda and stereotypes of the time,” as per the Goncharov lore masterpost on Tumblr.

Does Martin Scorcese know about Goncharov?

According to Scorsese’s daughter, Francesca, the director is well aware of the existence of Goncharov and all the lore surrounding the non-existent meta film. In an unexpected turn of events, after a TikTok user prompted the 23 year old to ask her dad about Goncharov, the writer obliged by asking her dad if he knew anything about the mafia film. As a pleasant surprise and a gift to everyone involved, Scorsese not only confirmed knowing about it, but he even said “I made that film years ago,” adding in to the internet joke.

While you may not be able to experience Goncharov on the big screen (or any screen at all), there are still a bunch of ways to engage in the spectacular creation of Goncharov. Hundreds of fan fictions have been written about the complex plot in the film, which are all available on Archive of our Own, and even more meta analysis and fan art is being shared on Twitter and Tumblr, to fulfil any of your Goncharov needs.