Martin Scorsese Begs You Not to Watch The Irishman on Your Phone
Now that Martin Scorsese's new crime epic "The Irishman" is available on Netflix, it would be logical to think that most people would use the streaming service to watch it. After all, the movie is more than three hours long, which is longer than some of the service's miniseries. What's more, Netflix is how most people watch a lot of their content. Why would you go to a theater to watch a movie if you could do it on your iPhone?
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For Scorsese, though, the idea of watching "The Irishman" on an iPhone is more than a little appalling. In Popcorn with Peter Travers, Scorsese gently suggests that maybe an iPhone is not the best way to watch his film.
"I would suggest, if you ever want to see one of my pictures, or most films, please, please don’t look at it on a phone. Please," the director said. The legendary director is willing to negotiate though. He's not so set in his ways.
"An iPad," Scorsese said. "A big iPad, maybe." iPhones are a big no-no, but iPads might be okay. In Scorsese's ideal world, of course, you would go see the movie in a theater.
“Ideally, I’d like you to go to a theater. Look at it on a big screen from beginning to end,” the director continued. He's a traditionalist who thinks the best way to watch movies is on a big screen. There's certainly something to be said for theatrical experiences, but he did make the movie for Netflix.
Scorsese continued by expressing understanding for those who don't seek the movie out in a theater. “I know, it’s long," the "Departed" director said. "You’ve got to get up. You got to go to the bathroom, that sort of thing. I get it, but also at home, I think if you can make a night of it, or an afternoon thereof, and know that you’re not gonna answer the phone, or you’re not gonna get up too much, it might work.”
The director has been in the news lately not just for "The Irishman," but also for the ongoing saga around his claim that Marvel movies aren't cinema. That feud has been lighting the internet on fire for weeks, and there don't seem to be any clear victors.
Whatever you think of his comments, Scorsese's work as a director is clearly worth revering. Over the span of his career, he's made dozens of great movies. He just begs you not to watch them on your phone.
