The praise for “The Irishman” keeps flooding in, and the latest admirer to herald it a “masterpiece” is “The Shape of Water” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” director Guillermo del Toro.
In a 13-tweet thread shared on Twitter Monday, del Toro compared “The Irishman” to another period piece and epic, Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon.” And though he acknowledged the film’s length — bleeding to over three hours — del Toro called the film a must-see and a perfect corollary to Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and “Casino.”
“This film needs time- however- it has to be processed like a real mourning. It will come up in stages… I believe most of its power will sink in, in time, and provoke a true realization. A masterpiece,” del Toro wrote. “See it. In a theatre. This movie languished in development in studio vaults for so long… having it here, now, is a miracle. And, btw- fastest 3 hours in a cinema. Do not miss it.”
In his tweet thread, the director also hailed Joe Pesci’s performance as “masterful” and said he’s continually fascinated by the work of Robert De Niro, even singling out what he finds to be a career-best in Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown.”
“Pesci [is] supremely minimalistic. Masterful. He is like a black hole- an attractor of planets- dark matter. DeNiro has always fascinated me when he plays characters that are punching above their true weight – or intelligence,” he continued. “An interesting transfer between these characters: Pesci- who has played the Machiavellian monster, regains a senile innocence, a benign oblivion and De Niro’s character – who has operated in a moral blank- gains enough awareness – to feel bitter loneliness.”
Ultimately though del Toro was floored by the profoundness Scorsese brought to the saga and how it evokes larger ideas about the fleeting nature of our lives.
“It is about lives that came and went, with all their turmoil, all their drama and violence and noise and loss… and how they invariably fade, like we all do,” del Toro said. “The film is a mausoleum of myths: a Funereal monument that stands to crush the bones beneath it. Granite is meant to last but we still turn to dust inside it.”
“The Irishman” just premiered at the New York Film Festival, and it will be released in theaters by Netflix beginning Nov. 1 before launching on the streaming service on Nov. 27.
1/13: 13 Tweets about Scorsese's The Irishman: First- the film connects with the epitaph-like nature of Barry Lyndon. It is about lives that came and went, with all their turmoil, all their drama and violence and noise and loss… and how they invariably fade, like we all do…
All 10 Guillermo del Toro Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best (Photos)
Guillermo del Toro didn’t take long to establish himself as master of the macabre. In just three years, he leapt from his sorta-shaky Spanish-language debut to an entertaining A-list starrer filmed in the U.S. His latest, “The Shape of Water,” is hitting the big screen, but how does it stack up against the rest of his repertoire? Take a look.
10. “Blade II” (2002)
All the del Toro camera tint in the world can’t compensate for Wesley Snipes’ cheesiness as a daywalker in this vampire franchise. The dialogue includes such eloquent lines as, “Eat shit, you fucking fuckers!” Our gore-loving director may not have had a hand in writing the script, but he’s still complicit.
9. “Pacific Rim” (2013)
The world doesn’t need another Michael Bay. So why did del Toro try to become one? This summer tentpole about monstrous kaiju is all audio and visual noise, with lifeless line readings from star Charlie Hunnam accompanying the many, many things that go boom. The cherry on top? The humans pilot giant robots. I wonder what he bought with that paycheck.
8. “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008)
It’s no “Hellboy I.” Next.
7. “Cronos” (1994)
Del Toro’s debut feature is an austere but handsome affair that should be lauded for its non-CG effects and condemned for its terrible acting. It feels like a first film, albeit one from a promising filmmaker.
6. “Mimic” (1997)
Del Toro’s first monster movie and first English-language film. Mira Sorvino vs. human-size New York City cockroaches may not sound like it’s worth the price of a ticket, but “Mimic” is smarter and more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Again, the effects are real and the look is stylish. And when a man-roach meets the A train, behind that wicked crunch is the satisfaction of a guy whose job it is to play pretend.
5. “Crimson Peak” (2015)
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Have you gotten the sense that del Toro has a flair for eye candy yet? This Gothic ghost story may be his most beautiful, with period sets and costumes lending themselves well to the director’s visual decadence. Its flaw -- besides having a beginning-and-ending voiceover that borrows from “The Devil’s Backbone” -- is that it’s not scary. Ghost story fail.
4. “The Shape of Water” (2017)
You’ll either be on board with this story, or you won’t. This fairy tale has touches of “Pan’s Labyrinth” but without that film’s inventiveness; once the script goes to the place where you don’t believe it might, the plot is as by-the-numbers as any we-can’t-be-together romance. Its valentine to outliers combined with Sally Hawkins’ marvelous silent performance ensure, however, that it can’t be dismissed.
3. “The Devil’s Backbone” (2001)
Set in a Spanish orphanage in the aftermath of that country's Civil War, this is a slightly spookier ghost story that mixes the topics of politics, abandonment, and friendship into its gossamer soup. You don’t see its bad guy coming, just as you won’t anticipate its violent end. This is the director in full command.
2. “Hellboy” (2004)
Del Toro can’t take all the credit for the source material that gives the title character his charm. But he directs longtime collaborator Ron Perlman to a performance that pops like not all superheroes do. The half-man, half demon with an affinity for nachos and a right hand the size of a Buick is more entertaining when he’s not pounding someone into the ground, but just in case you care about that, the director makes sure you see it all, eschewing shaky-cams and ADHD edits in favor of, well, photographing the action.
1. “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)
Wildly imaginative, with stunning set pieces and a villain whose target is a little girl, del Toro’s triumph is an assured and at times audacious mix of fairy tale, history, and story about how much stepdads can suck. Its ghouls are ghastly in ways you’ve never seen before, with the result being not only awe but also a hunger to find out what else the director has up his sleeve.
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Where does his latest, “The Shape of Water,” rank among the director’s storied output?
Guillermo del Toro didn’t take long to establish himself as master of the macabre. In just three years, he leapt from his sorta-shaky Spanish-language debut to an entertaining A-list starrer filmed in the U.S. His latest, “The Shape of Water,” is hitting the big screen, but how does it stack up against the rest of his repertoire? Take a look.
