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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 30 OctOber 2019
Scorsese, De Niro and Pacino on time and 'The Irishman'

By JAKE COYLE and uncertainty about the Niro. He was attracted
Associated Press future, time is much on the to Charles Brandt's book
NEW YORK (AP) — They minds of its power trio. "The about Sheeran, "I Heard
come into the room not Irishman" was made by You Paint Houses," and saw
like the moveable Mount 70-something Hollywood in it the potential to give
Rushmore that they but like legends acutely aware a more ruminative spin on
three old friends, energized that they have only so the organized crime genre
by being in each other's much of it left. that he, Scorsese and Joe
company. They are chat- "As they say in the movie, Pesci (who plays Mafia don
ting about movies. it's gonna happen. We're Russell Bufalino) are so in-
Martin Scorsese comes first, all human. We're gonna tertwined with. It took more
then Al Pacino, then Robert die," says Scorsese. "The than a decade to make it
This image released by Netflix shows Al Pacino, right, in a scene De Niro. They're trailed by contemplative nature of it happen, and only then did
from "The Irishman." a small army of publicists has to do with an accumu- it get traction thanks to im-
Associated Press and assistants that quickly lation of detail. Details, de- proving digital de-aging
recedes out of the room. tails. It's a good thing for our effects that stretch the ac-
Constant through the mo- culture to be able to take tors' performances across
mentary commotion is the time and experience decades, and because of
Scorsese enthusiastically re- it. You may like it, you may Netflix's backing of a film
membering Michael Powell dislike it. But things move so that ultimately cost $159
and Emeric Pressburger's "A fast now. We see the result million to make.
Matter of Life and Death," of that in what's happened But, for them, the long wait
and quoting its lines to a to our country. We get a was worth it. "We couldn't
rapt Pacino. soundbite without context. have asked for anything
Their movie, "The Irishman," People are too busy. more. Period. That's it," says
also deals majestically with "It's time to take time." De Niro. "It really was an ex-
matters of life and death. And it took ages to get ceptional kind of situation.
Like Powell and Pressburg- Pacino, De Niro and Scors- It was funny. Marty, there,
er's time-traversing afterlife ese together. "The Irishman" Bob. It was so easy. It's what
fantasy, "The Irishman" takes is their first film as a three- we do," agrees Pacino.
the long view on a life, al- some. That alone gives the Their names ring out with
beit one — that of mafia film the feel of a historic oc- a phonetic symmetry but
hitman and Jimmy Hoffa casion. A last stand. Their it would be hard to find
associate Frank Sheeran collective response to a three more rhythmically dif-
(De Niro) — less certain to movie world where Scors- ferent people. Scorsese's
stand up in final judgment. ese's kind of cinema is in- ferocious verbosity hasn't
In Scorsese's solemnly oper- creasingly extinct, where dimmed even slightly with
atic crime epic, time is one three-plus hour movies are age. Pacino, ever-eager to
of the three-and-half-hour usually reserved only for improvise, is more prone to
film's principle subjects. Marvel. slapdash riffing. De Niro is,
And in a conversation filled "The Irishman" was pushed as per his reputation, more
with reflections of the past from the start by De taciturn. q

Kathy Mattea named WVU

distinguished artist in residence

a distinguished artist in
residence in the School of
Music for the 2019-20 aca-
demic year.
The statement says the
two-time Grammy Award
winner will visit the Morgan-
town campus to give class
lectures, offer one-on-one-
mentoring and lead master
classes with the WVU Blue-
grass and Old-Time Bands.
Mattea's first residency will
be held this week and will
culminate in a public mas-
ter class with voice students
In this Nov. 22, 2013 file photo, Kathy Mattea performs at the
George Jones Tribute - Playin' Possum: The Final No Show, at the at the university's Museum
Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Education Center on Thurs-
Associated Press day. The event is free and
open to the public with lim-
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) ginia University. ited seating.
— Country singer Kathy The university says in a news She's scheduled to return to
Mattea will be coaching release that the Cross Lanes the university in March for a
music students at West Vir- native has been named second residency visit.q