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Posted: |
Nov 15, 2019 - 4:22 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Just came back from this, a theatrical press screening. I really liked it; the 3 1/2 hours fly by; it feels much shorter.
The 'de-aging' thing works perfectly. You take notice at first, but then you quickly forget it (the war scenes with a young De Niro are so short, and from such a distance, that it's of no consequence whether it's believable or not). If I have any qualm, it's perhaps that it's a tad "dry" -- it doesn't have the mythological 'rise-to-power' aspect of, say, GOODFELLAS. But then I guess that's not its intention either.
This definitely needs to be seen on the big screen, if you have the chance. Some great, De Palma-ish one-takes and whatnot.
As for the score, it's mostly rock and pop music from the period (as usual with Scorsese), but there are a few stretches -- montage-type -- that have a bit of Robbie Robertson score. Not terribly exciting; some shuffling percussion and a groove, as expected from the The Band main guy (his score to COLOR OF MONEY is in the same territory, although perhaps a bit more melodic). It reminded me a bit of Mark Streitenfeld's AMERICAN GANGSTER theme.
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There is one score track on the album. I would call it "acoustic jam session music", and as you said, not very exciting.
Robertson's best stuff is really good though, like Skinwalker from 1994, where he worked with Pat Leonard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMp_ofOA5Qw
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Bring back Howard Shore !
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Bring back Howard Shore !
Bring back Peter Gabriel!
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Bring back Howard Shore !
Bring back Peter Gabriel!
Oh yeah!
Wish he scored more films.
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There is also a piece heard throughout featuring a harmonica(?) and what sounds like very low cello (or bass) sawing. I'll have to explore the soundtrack - good use of instrumentals and songs in this film.
This is classic Scorsese, with definite Goodfellas vibes (sudden and shocking violent acts, people holding grudges and taking offense at the smallest things - and I really felt nostalgic seeing the return of Welker White [the girl with the lucky hat in Goodfellas, she plays Jimmy Hoffa's wife here.])
What a joy to see DeNiro, Pacino, Pesci, Keitel on screen in a Scorsese crime epic in 2019! DeNiro depicts his character's moral dilemmas extremely well. I expected "Shouty Al" from Pacino and, although we get that, with Al in great form, we also get a fully dimensional portrayal of Hoffa from him. You almost start to feel sorry for the schlub as he tries to regain his power! Pesci isn't the hothead nut he was in Goodfellas; his is a subtle and rich performance as mob boss Russell Bufalino. Other standouts include White, Bobby Cannavale (as ever), Stephen Graham (from Snatch!) as the cocky "little guy," Bo Dietl, and Kathrine Narducci (as Pesci's world-weary wife). A pity that Jack Huston looks nothing at all like Bobby Kennedy, though.
Two characters to look out for: An actor who was in both Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha and New York, New York. And also someone who Pesci played in a film from decades ago.
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There is also a piece heard throughout featuring a harmonica(?) and what sounds like very low cello (or bass) sawing. I'll have to explore the soundtrack - good use of instrumentals and songs in this film.
That would be the theme track by Robbie Robertson.
Of the vintage music, standouts include Percy Faith's "Delicado", its sprightly tune used for a sequence delineating Joe Pesci's character, "Que Rico el Mambo" by Perez Prado (used to introduce Stephen Graham's cocky Tony Pro - also woe to you if you dare switch this to a different song on the radio), and The Golddigger's "The Time is Now" (which keeps sounding like it's about to turn into "Up Up and Away" at any moment).
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I saw "The Barefoot Contessa Song," or something like that, credited to Mario Nascimbene who scored the 1954 Bogart/Gardner film, but didn't recognize the music. I'm not intimately familiar with his score either, though it was nice seeing the credit. When was the last time his name graced theater screens? 
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