Netflix has released the official trailer for Martin Scorsese's latest film, The Irishman, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.
The Irishman tells the story of one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in the United States, the disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and is an adaptation of the nonfiction book, I Heard You Paint Houses.
De Niro plays gangland enforcer Frank Sheeran in the Netflix production, which runs to three-and-a-half hours. The trailer features Sheeran receiving his first phone call from Hoffa and telling him he “paints houses”, a euphemism for killing people.
The film spans several decades and shows De Niro’s character from when he is in his 20s up to his 80s, using cutting-edge technology to alter his age.
De Niro has joked his career could be extended by "another 30 years" by the technology used to digitally de-age him. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, two-time Oscar winner De Niro (76) said de-ageing him took "a lot of work to do", adding: "I'm happy because maybe it'll extend my career by another 30 years."
De Niro, who has had a celebrated career in cinema and appeared in classic films including The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull, explained how he had to film scenes with small dots attached to his face to allow special cameras to change his appearance in the production process.
He said the dots were “slight”, adding: “They didn’t want it to get in our way and Marty didn’t want that. ”
De Niro told Fallon The Irishman was not “another Goodfellas”, after comparisons had been made between the two.
“It’s a very simple story”, De Niro said of the film. “It’s about loyalty, and a guy stuck in the middle of two people and he had to make a choice. It was a matter of survival for him to make the choice he did. Not to give it away.”
The Irishman will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival tonight. It will be released in select cinemas on November 1st, followed by streaming on Netflix from November 27th. – PA
