The Irishman: Cosmopolitan Authorship in the Age of Streaming Media

The directorial career of Martin Scorsese makes a good case for the continued relevance of authorship analysis in films. This chapter focuses on how Scorsese’s 2019 movie The Irishman exemplifies the tendencies and specifically how it employs a pluralist approach to filmmaking that uses and subverts genre, in this case the gangster film, and in the process critiques what might be termed toxic masculinity. It examines how The Irishman demonstrates that Netflix, the media corporation that financed and distributed the film, uses the Scorsese brand as part of its commercial strategy in an increasingly crowded streaming media marketplace. Scorsese’s work restoring and promoting film from around the world makes clear his appreciation for alternative cinematic stories and styles. Like his main character in The Irishman, Scorsese’s filmmaking aspires to be cosmopolitan, in the director’s case a hybrid mix of cinematic cultures and styles.