- Title: Scorsese says he wanted to 'enrich' past De Niro work with 'The Irishman'
- Date: 13th October 2019
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 13, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** DIRECTOR MARTIN SCORSESE ON THE RED CARPET FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE OF "THE IRISHMAN", THE CLOSING NIGHT FILM OF THE BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2019 VARIOUS OF ACTOR AND DIRECTOR, ROBERT DE NIRO POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS THEN WALKING OVER TO SPEAK TO REPORTERS DE NIRO SPEAKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND PRODUCER, ROBERT DE NIRO, ON SCORSESE'S COMMENT ABOUT THIS PROJECT "ENRICHING" RATHER THAN "REPLICATING" THEIR EARLIER WORK, SAYING: "It's the same genre, it's the same, you know, world overlapped, different elements of that same world. But that's ok if you have a good story and good characters and all that, and got to have a good outcome, story-wise, I think that's ok. So that's what we did." ACTOR HARVEY KEITEL WALKING THE RED CARPET WITH WIFE, CANADIAN FILM AND TELEVISION ACTRESS, SCREENWRITER, AND FILM DIRECTOR, DAPHNA KASTNER THEN TURNING AROUND TO POSE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, HARVEY KEITEL, ON WHAT IT WAS LIKE REUNITING AGAIN TO WORK ON THIS, SAYING: "We always have a good laugh, good time seeing each other so. It's always wonderful." (L-R) ACTOR AL PACINO (BEHIND CAMERA), SCORSESE AND DE NIRO POSING TOGETHER FOR PHOTOGRAPHS SCORSESE WALKING PASS ON THE RED CARPET DE NIRO SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS FOR FANS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND PRODUCER, ROBERT DE NIRO, ON THE NEW DE-AGING VISUAL EFFECTS REVOLUTIONISING FILMMAKING, AND WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT SEEING A YOUNGER HIM ON SCREEN, SAYING: "I mean I always joke I'll extend my career by 30 years. But no, it's a thing, it's part of what's happening now. It's going to change and morph into other things and God knows what it will be, you know, in 20 or 30 years. [REPORTER ASKING ABOUT HOW HE FEELS SEEING HIMSELF AS A YOUNGER MAN]. It's ok, you know (laughs). If it works out, I'm ok with it." PACINO POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS PACINO WALKING OVER TO SPEAK TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, AL PACINO, ON FINALLY GETTING TO WORK WITH SCORSESE, SAYING: "Marty and I have tried to work together, from time to time, very closely on a project about Modigliani the painter and it almost happened. So now it has it's, you know, exceptional cast and this great director and wonderful script, so all of it (makes clicking sound) really, really, really just lucky, you know it's always lucky. That's the thing." VARIOUS OF SCORSESE AND PACINO SPEAKING TO REPORTERS VARIOUS OF ACTOR ANNA PAQUIN POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS ACTOR STEPHEN GRAHAM POSING WITH WIFE, HANNAH WALTERS (BLONDE HAIR) AND OTHERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, STEPHEN GRAHAM, ON WORKING WITH THE "GOODFELLAS" AND SCORSESE, SAYING: "You're right, you know. I had to pinch myself some mornings. I couldn't take it all in. But in the same respect, there was no egos at all on set, do you know what I mean? There was not an ounce of ego between them." VARIOUS OF PACINO SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND HAVING SELFIES TAKEN WITH FANS PAQUIN SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS THEN WALKING OVER TO REPORTERS PAQUIN SPEAKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, ANNA PAQUIN, ON GETTING TO DANCE WITH AL PACINO (AFTER THINKING HE COULD DANCE WELL FROM WATCHING HIM IN "SCENT OF A WOMAN"), SAYING: "I was like I know he can dance, so clearly this is my fault and about half way through the day he told me that Jimmy Hoffa doesn't know how to dance. I was like that would have been really nice to know about six hours ago, before I have sweat out about ten pounds anxiety because I'm stepping on Al Pacino's feet."
- Embargoed: 27th October 2019 20:39
- Keywords: BFI LFF Stephen Graham director Martin Scorsese Marvel The Irishman Al Pacino theme park film Anna Paquin Robert De Niro Harvey Keitel closing night film
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA003B0XJ2H9
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Martin Scorsese reunites with Robert De Niro in "The Irishman", a 3-1/2 hours long mob drama the acclaimed director said he chose to do with his frequent collaborator to build on their past work together rather than replicate it.
Set over several decades, "The Irishman" looks at a Pennsylvania organised crime family with Oscar winners De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in the main roles.
The Netflix movie, which closes the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday (October 13), uses digital de-ageing technology to show the characters in their 30s and 40s. De Niro, Pesci and Pacino are all in their 70s.
The project is Scorsese's and De Niro's latest collaboration following acclaimed works like "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas" and "Casino".
"I was really looking for something with Bob (De Niro) to enrich more or less where we had gone in the '70s and the '80s and the early '90s," Scorsese told a news conference.
"To just replicate what we had been trying to do at the beginning of our careers wouldn't be enriching in any way."
De Niro told Reuters on the film's international red carpet that it is the same crime genre as their previous work, but "it's ok if you have a good story and good characters and (you have) got to have a good outcome, story-wise."
The film, which runs just short of 3-1/2 hours, begins with elderly narrator Frank Sheeran, played by De Niro, recounting his life.
Told in flashbacks, the audience sees him as a soldier, truck driver and eventually mob hitman after meeting organised crime boss Russell Bufalino, played by Pesci.
The plot, based on Charles Brandt's book "I Heard You Paint Houses", is tied to the disappearance of former U.S. Teamsters union boss Jimmy Hoffa, portrayed by Pacino in his first Scorsese collaboration.
"Marty and I have tried to work together, from time to time, very closely on a project about Modigliani the painter and it almost happened," said Pacino told Reuters. "So now it has it's, you know, exceptional cast and this great director and wonderful script, so all of it (makes clicking sound) really, really, really just lucky, you know it's always lucky."
The film, which has won rave reviews from critics touting it an Oscar contender, will have a limited theatrical run before and after its Nov. 27 Netflix release.
"The original conception of what a film is and where it's to be seen has now changed so radically," Scorsese said.
"Something that should always be protected as much as possible ... is a communal experience and I think that's best in the theatre. Now homes are becoming theatres too, it's a major change and I think one has to keep an open mind."
The 76-year-old reiterated his comparison of superhero flicks to "theme park" films, where he said, "theatres become amusement parks".
"That's a different experience ... it's not cinema it's something else whether you go for that or not ... and we shouldn't be invaded by it."
Asked about watching a younger version of himself using de-ageing effects as a kind of make-up and prosthetics, and how this will revolutionise filmmaking, De Niro said:
"I always joke I'll extend my career by 30 years ... It's part of what's happening now. It's going to change and morph into other things and God knows what it will be in 20 or 30 years ... If it works out, I'm ok with it."
"The Irishman" also stars Harvey Keitel, Stephen Graham and Anna Paquin who attended on the night.
Keitel said reuniting with Scorsese and De Niro was a "good laugh" and "always wonderful".
Graham and Paquin said they found joining the Scorsese family "intimidating", but Graham said, "there was not an ounce of ego between them".
Paquin said she "sweat out about ten pounds anxiety" after stepping on Pacino's feet during their dance scene, but got reassured by the "Scent of a Woman" actor that he had two left feet: "Jimmy Hoffa doesn't know how to dance."
(Production: Will Russell and Lisa Giles-Keddie) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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