The Irishman: Martin Scorsese reveals why he used ‘de-ageing’ CGI for new movie

The Irishman has finally had its premiere and fans were bowled over by the movie. Some critics are calling it Scorsese’s best film for decades and it has wowed critics. One of the biggest feats of the film is the use of ‘de-ageing’ CGI.

Martin Scorsese, in a press conference for The Irishman, revealed why he opted for CGI, something he rarely uses in his films, to make stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel look younger.

Speaking on why he teamed up with Netflix, he said: “For many different reasons, ultimately there was a financial reason, because of the CGI we did.

“And the reason we went for CGI is kind of complicated, because at a certain point if I’d made the film earlier we could have played the film younger.

“But then at a certain point we missed that and then they said, ‘Use younger actors to play them [De Niro, Pacino, Keitel, Pesci] younger.’

“And I said, ‘What’s the point in that?’ We were going back and forth and then there was CGI.

“We said, ‘OK let’s try it. Let’s experiment, open it up.”

Of course, as CGI is not something regularly thought of with Scorsese’s films, the director had to explain why he chose to use it this time rather than just normal make-up.

He added: “CGI to that extent is really an evolution of make-up.

“You accept certain norms with make-up; you think, ‘She’s not that old, he’s not that young,’ but you accept that as a norm.

“You accept the illusion so to speak.”

However, as Pacino illuminated in the same press conference, it is not as simple as just putting dots on your face to look younger.

He described the difficult task of trying to hold yourself younger, joking a 39-year-old would not struggle to get off a chair in the same way a 75-year-old may do.

Pacino said: “It’s also how we move. These are the little things in there.

“You go along looking pretty but you go to get up and… people come by and say, ‘Hey what’re you doing? You’re 39.’”

But he felt the most important thing is the acting, having watched the film without the CGI being added.

He said: “This is a technique which is early on, but it’s what they have said, it’s a form of make-up and it could change things and but I don’t think you feel that way as an actor.

“As an actor you’re playing a role… it doesn’t matter what you look like.

“This is true in a way, I saw the film… without anything, and I just went with it and I didn’t think any more than this was a story.

“It was delivered in such a way directorally, visually, cinematically, costumes and everything, and also the acting.

“So I felt that was what was picking me up, the story wasn’t thinking about anything else after a while.”

Later, he added: “I think it’s really good that we have that in the film, this potential, and it’s exercised.

“But in the old days with an actor we all knew and love, we put grey hair on him and say, ‘Oh he got older,’ but you’d accept it because it was make-up and you went with it because it was in the story.”

Robert De Niro added he was “excited” by the potential, joking his career could be “extended by 30 years.”

He also lauded Pablo Helman, who he said wanted to make sure the technology was “state of the art.”

The Irishman is out in cinemas on November 8 before it is released on Netflix on November 27