Some pictures of the Criterion Collection blu-ray release of Martin Scorsese’s 2019 American epic crime film The Irishman, based on the 2004 non-fiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci in the leading roles.

I’m not terribly familiar with Martin Scorsese’s earlier filmography having only seen his more recent films ( circa 2000 and after ), but I did enjoy The Wolf Of Wall Street as well as Silence, and my 2nd viewing of The Irishman after this purchase has definitely given me a much deeper appreciation of the movie and its cinematic nuances.

I know there are many subtexts and references in the film that I’ll likely never get or understand, not having grown up during the time period as depicted in the film nor lived in the country it is based in, but I can certainly still appreciate the immense cinematic effort undertaken by the director in making such a film.

(above) This release is a 2 disc collection, with the feature film on disc 1 and the supplementary materials on disc 2.

(below) The blu-ray case fold out to reveal art work of the three main protaganists of the film; Jimmy Hoffa ( Pacino ), Russell Bufalino ( Pesci ) and Frank Sheeran ( De Niro ). The paintings are done by American artist Gregory Manchess, whom I am a big fan of. Definitely check out his amazing art novel Above The Timberline.

Also included in the purchase is a small booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien, as well as production credits and technical details on the film mastering.

I watched all the supplementary materials after finishing the film itself, and I found all of them to be insightful and illuminating, in particular the roundtable conversation with Scorsese and the three leads, as well as the VFX feature on ILM’s stunning de-aging techniques.

Also of particular interest to me was DP Rodrigo Prieto approach to shooting the film, using film stocks that best emulated the look and feel of the various periods throughout the movie, as well as the ENR developing process, akin to the bleach bypass technique that retains some of the silver in the stock, resulting is a very contrasty and desaturated image, with particularly rich blacks but subdued colours. Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan also employed a similar developing technique that gave the film a distinct desaturated color palette with crunchy blacks.

The 4K transfer of the film is pretty stunning with very crisp details and rich, creamy colors, even though this is just a regular 2K blu-ray and not a UHD disc. All in all, this is yet another fantastic release from Criterion, and gets my highest recommendations.

“The Irishman Criterion Collection Blu-ray” details :

Director-Approved Special Edition Features :

– New 4K digital master, approved by director Martin Scorsese, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack on the Blu-ray
– Newly edited roundtable conversation among Scorsese and actors Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, originally recorded in 2019
– Making “The Irishman,” a new program featuring Scorsese; the lead actors; producers Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Jane Rosenthal, and Irwin Winkler; director of photography Rodrigo Prieto; and others from the cast and crew
– Gangsters’ Requiem, a new video essay by film critic Farran Smith Nehme about The Irishman’s synthesis of Scorsese’s singular formal style
– Anatomy of a Scene: “The Irishman,” a 2020 program featuring Scorsese’s analysis of the Frank Sheeran Appreciation Night scene from the film
– The Evolution of Digital De-aging, a 2019 program on the visual effects created for the film
– Excerpted interviews with Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran and Teamsters trade-union leader Jimmy Hoffa from 1999 and 1963
– Trailer and teaser
– English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

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