Some people are capable of binge-watching an entire season of “Stranger Things” in one sitting, others may prefer to watch “Avengers: Endgame” in several installments. With the release of the 3-and-a-half-hour crime epic, “The Irishman” on Netflix, it might be tempting to watch the film as a limited series, but there’s one person who doesn’t think “The Irishman” could work as a TV show: Martin Scorsese.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the acclaimed director offered a firm opinion on whether “The Irishman” could have played out over seasons of TV: Nope. “You could say, ‘This is a long story, you can play it out over two seasons’ — I saw somebody mention that,” the director says. “Absolutely no. I’ve never even thought of it. Because the point of this picture is the accumulation of detail. It’s an accumulated cumulative effect by the end of the movie — which means you get to see from beginning to end [in one sitting] if you’re so inclined. A series is great, it’s wonderful, you can develop character and plot lines and worlds are recreated. But this wasn’t right for that.”
According to Scorsese, the key part about why “The Irishman” needs to be seen in one-sitting resides in the last 20-minutes of the film, which see the main character experience the fall-out of a life of crime. The impact of that ending is “cumulative, not episodic.”
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The thing is, “The Irishman” does offer clear breaks that could easily divide the film into 4 distinct episodes. Journalist Alexander Denerfors met with a backlash on Twitter when he suggested a different way to experience the film if you think it’s too long to watch at once. However, his tweet does show clear story breaks that offer those without a lot of free time on their hands to still enjoy “The Irishman” without it taking up most of their day.
I created a viewing guide for everyone who thinks THE IRISHMAN is too damn long for one night. You're welcome! #scorsese #netflix #theirishman pic.twitter.com/sH06AxJ7he
— Alexander Kardelo (@dunerfors) November 28, 2019
