MARTIN SCORSESE has dropped a strong hint that The Irishman could be his last film as a director.
The mob drama, chronicling the life and times of Irish-American Mafia hitman Frank Sheeran, has won critical acclaim since debuting on Netflix earlier this month.
Described by many as a return to form for Scorsese, the film reunites some of the director's favourite actors in Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel.
Despite the positive response to the film, Scorsese has expressed dismay at the current direction of modern cinema and, in particular, the glut of superhero movies.
Back in October, Scorsese branded Marvel films as a "theme park experience" and "not cinema."
He reiterated those comments in another interview with The Guardian in which he appeared to suggest The Irishman could end up being his last major production as a result of the influx of superhero films.
"Obviously, we have been discussing this a lot, that theatres have been commandeered by superhero films you know, just people flying around and banging and crashing, which is fine if you want to see it," he said.
"It's just that there's no room for another kind of picture. I: maybe this is it. The last one. So the idea was to at least get it made and maybe show it for one day at the NFT, maybe one day at the Cinematheque in Paris. I'm not kidding," he added.
Scorsese cited Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird and the Joanna Hogg effort The Souvenir as "genuine" films capable of finding a "large audience" despite not being "hugely commercial".
"We are in a situation now where the theatres are only showing the latest superhero films. You have 12 screens and 11 are the superhero film. You enjoy superhero films, fine, but you need 11 screens?
"It's crazy for a picture like, you know, Lady Bird or The Souvenir. Those films may not necessarily be hugely commercial, but there are films that are modest and genuine and find a large audience.
"Just because a film is commercial doesn't mean it can't be art. What has consumed the theatres is product. A product is to be consumed and thrown away. Look at a commercial film like Singin' in the Rain.
"You can watch it again and again. So the question is: how are we going to protect the art form?" he asked.
He cited the example of The Aviator and The Departed as films that would struggle to get made in today's superhero-dominated cinema landscape.
"Now, you don't have to like the picture, but you couldn't get The Aviator made today. You could not get Shutter Island made today, even with me and Leo (DiCaprio). The Departed got made despite itself the star power helped.
"We realised when we were taking this project around that the doors are closing. So what's going on? I looked over at the theatres right down the block 10 screens showing the same picture," he said.
"People comment that we've only shown this film in theatres for four weeks. We tried to get more, but the theatre owners and Netflix couldn't come to terms. But you know, I've had pictures play only one week and get thrown out.
"In the US, The King of Comedy closed in a week. That film was ignored for 10 years," he added.
