Martin Scorsese’s long and prestigious career in filmmaking may soon be at an end, with his most recent film – mob epic The Irishman – potentially being his curtain call. That’s the lowdown he’s revealed in a new interview with The Guardian, coming in response to another question about his continued chagrin at the superhero genre’s hegemony (yes, that again):
Obviously, we have been discussing this a lot, that theatres have been commandeered by superhero films – you know, just people flying around and banging and crashing, which is fine if you want to see it. It’s just that there’s no room for another kind of picture. I don’t know how many more I can make – maybe this is it. The last one. So the idea was to at least get it made and maybe show it for one day at the NFT, maybe one day at the Cinémathèque in Paris. I’m not kidding.
So, one of cinema’s most venerated directors might have called it a day. And at 77-years-old and more than a half-century in movies, I don’t blame him. Then again, while most people kick down for retirement at some point, it’d be a shame if he did so out of a sense there’s no room for him anymore. Retire because you want to retire Martin, not because you have to.
As if Marvel haven’t claimed enough victims, now they’ve added elder abuse to their portfolio. Just sickening.
But seriously, if The Irishman does prove to be his last film, it’s not the shabbiest way to go out. At 209 minutes, it represents something of a career overview for him, reuniting long-acquainted partners in crime Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino (surprisingly his first collaboration with the director), and a host of others.
Alternatively, I doubt most movie fanatics are going to be upset if Scorsese reneges on his word. After all, it seems every American director of Italian descent is musing about retirement at the moment. Quentin Tarantino, for one, has repeatedly stated his intention to retire at the age of 60, which leaves less than 2 years for him to make his tenth, and possibly last film.
Whether The Irishman marks the end for the Scorseseverse (try saying that when drunk) or not, it’s never a bad time to give a salute to one of our foremost champions of the big screen. To your continued health, sir.
