Martin Scorsese’s upcoming gangster epic, “The Irishman,” will be screened this coming Friday at New York City’s Alice Tully Hall. Of course, you’ve probably already heard about the groundbreaking use of de-aging visual effects that are being used to make actors like Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci appear younger. We did catch a small glimpse of De Niro’s de-aged face during the final shot of the trailer, but nothing too conclusive has actually been revealed, until now.
Netflix has now unveiled four photos from the movie, each of them encompassing four different decades in the life of the movie’s main character Frank Sheeran (De Niro).
Earlier in the year, there had been a hold-up in the post-production process for “The Irishman.” It did seem to be a case of unrealistic expectations in regards to the CGI that was being used for the de-aging process — something an old-school filmmaker like Scorsese probably didn’t expect to happen. After all, he is used to finding great shots through composition and experimentation, not drawing them into existence. The de-aging process being used in the film required more than just filmmaking talent, but rather a hefty amount of VFX talent and money (the film’s budget is said to be around $160M).
During an appearance on A24’s “A Bigger Canvas” podcast, Scorsese admitted to “The Souvenir” director, Joanna Hogg, that the VFX required to de-age the actors had not gone as fluidly as planned. During this same conversation, he also added that the process has had him nervous about the finished product. “Why I’m concerned, we’re all concerned, is that we’re so used to watching them as the older faces,” he said.
And yet, these pictures look fantastic. The subtleties are what’s more striking about them. There’s no denying that the hard work seems to have paid off. I am most curious about the war-time de-aging, when Sheeran is depicted at his youngest — that’s when we’ll know if the VFX was truly successful.
Netflix is releasing “The Irishman” in select theaters beginning November 1 and it will be available to stream November 27.
