Ahead of their much-anticipated and most recent collaboration, "The Irishman," Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro convened at the Tribeca Film Festival to look back on their long partnership together.
The talk, staged Sunday at New York's Beacon Theatre, gave De Niro, co-founder of the festival, one of his most unlikely roles to date: interviewer. With interstitial clips chosen by Scorsese from the director's filmography, the famously terse actor didn't so much pepper or prod the filmmaker as occasionally announce it was time to discuss "the next one."
But if the conversation relied largely on Scorsese, it still offered a window into their long-running collaboration. Begun with 1973's "Mean Streets" and stretching over nine feature films, it's one of the most famous director-actor pairs in cinema. One of Scorsese's other regulars, Leonardo DiCaprio, was among the full crowd, eager to see the legendary New York duo together.
Actor Robert De Niro, left, and director Martin Scorsese attend "Tribeca Talks - Director Series - Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro" during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at the Beacon Theatre on Sunday, April 28, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Brent N. ClarkeInvisionAP)
"The Irishman," which Netflix will release this fall, is their latest gangster film together, following "Mean Streets," ''Goodfellas" and "Casino." It's based on the 2003 book "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt, which recounts the life of mob hitman Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran (played by De Niro). Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa, whose disappearance some have traced to Sheeran.
"It's in the milieu of the pictures we've done together and are known for, in a sense, but I hope from a different vantage point," said Scorsese. "Years have gone by and we see things in a special way, I hope."
Though its release is months away, "The Irishman" — one of Netflix's biggest-budgeted films yet — has already become the new flash point of the ongoing battle between Netflix and movie theaters. The major chains have refused to play releases that don't abide to the traditional exclusive 90-day theatrical window. Netflix has said that doesn't serve the interests of its millions of members.
Actor Robert De Niro, from left, co-founder, CEO, and executive chair of Tribeca Enterprises Jane Rosenthal, and director Martin Scorsese attend "Tribeca Talks - Director Series - Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro" during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival at the Beacon Theatre on Sunday, April 28, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Brent N. ClarkeInvisionAP)
How Scorsese will navigate those divisions is being closely watched. The 76-year-old filmmaker is among the most respected in movies, and has long been a devoted advocate of film history and film preservation.
The director didn't wade into those issues Sunday, but he spoke about how "Irishman" reverberates with themes that have long propelled him. "Casino," he said, relates to what he considers a current "cultural explosion."
"It's the old story: How much is enough?" said Scorsese. "It has to do with our foibles and our pride. It just so happens (to be told with) gangsters and killers and prostitutes and gamblers."
Scorsese said that "The Irishman" will, like "Casino" did with the score from Jean-Luc Godard's "Contempt," include music from another film. He also said his last feature, "Silence," his 2016 religion epic about Jesuit priests in feudal Japan, connects with "The Irishman."
"Terry Malick wrote me a letter when he saw the picture. He said: 'What does Christ want from us?'" said Scorsese. "In the old neighborhood, I saw some of the people doing terrible things. But they still had something in them. They cared for each other."
"This film comes out of that and our new feature comes out of that," he added. "It's right there."
Scorsese is also prepping the release of his documentary "Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story," which will debut on Netflix on June 12. The film will play in a concurrent Oscar-qualifying release in a handful of theaters, as well as "road show" screenings the night before release in some 20 cities.
Music was a constant theme to Scorsese on Sunday — he said he often tells him how to move the camera — as was his enduring interest in gangster films. Alluding to "The Irishman" while discussing "Goodfellas," Scorsese said the genre can contain everything.
"We find that we keep going back to that world because I think we're trying to get to what's essential," said Scorsese. "The microcosm is a macrocosm."
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Iran fired missiles at Israel and some Gulf nations while explosions could be heard around Tehran and the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday, as the United States prepared to further reinforce its already significant military forces in the Middle East.
As the war that began Feb. 28 was to enter its sixth week, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait warned about incoming missile fire, although it was unclear if anything was struck. Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing.
Oil prices surged while Asian financial markets rose moderately during cautious trading. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks.
The largest American aircraft carrier in service sailed out of Split, in Croatia and “remains poised for full mission tasking in support of national objectives in any area of operation,” the Navy’s 6th Fleet announced.
It was unclear where it was going. The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the Arabian Sea and the USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier departed Norfolk on Wednesday to head to the Mideast.
Here is the latest:
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but the Asian markets that were open Friday rose moderately in cautious trading, while others were closed for the Good Friday holidays.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.
The U.S. only relies on the Persian Gulf for a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market.
The situation is very different in Asia. Japan, for example, relies on access to the Strait of Hormuz for much of the nation’s oil import needs and would need to rely on alternative routes. But some analysts say Japan and oher nations are counting on an agreement with Iran to allow transports.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% in Friday morning trading to 52,938.62. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.1% to 5,344.41. The Shanghai Composite sank 0.5% to 3,899.57. Trading was closed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia and India.
Wall Street, where trading is closed Friday, finished its first winning week since the start of the Iran war, although trading started out with a decline driven by a surge in oil prices.
Bangladesh is curtailing office hours and enforcing early closure of malls and shops beginning Friday to handle its energy crisis related to the war.
The country’s cabinet ordered 30% spending cuts for fuel and power at government offices, suspended some staff training and stopped purchases of new vehicles, ships and aircraft. Decorative lighting will not be allowed for celebrations.
Bangladesh, a nation of more than 170 million people, is seeking alternative fuel sources and $2.5 billion in external financing for imports, which account for 95% of its fuel.
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Friday urged motorists getting away for a long weekend during the Easter holiday to fill up in cities because most of the nation’s fuel shortages are in rural areas.
Among 2,400 gas stations in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, 182 had run out of diesel by Friday.
In Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, 76 gas stations were out of diesel. In the remaining states ranked by the most populous first, Queensland had 75 stations without diesel, Western Australia had 37, South Australia had 28 and in Tasmania there were seven.
“For those Australians planning a road trip this weekend, given our shortages are predominantly in rural and regional Australia, it makes sense to fill up in the city to help the country if you can,” Bowen said in Sydney.
The government, which blamed regional shortages on panic buying and distribution problems, is concentrating on delivering fuel to farmers for planting crops.
A painting lies on the floor of a residential building damaged by recent U.S.-Israeli strikes in Fardis, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Journalists from foreign media based in Tehran document damage from U.S.-Israeli strikes in a residential area of the town of Fardis, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A newly constructed bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A newly constructed bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes Thursday is seen in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Members from the Popular Mobilization Forces attend a funeral of fighters who were killed in a U.S. airstrike, in Tal Afar, Nineveh province, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A man with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon sits on a bed at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
President Donald Trump arrives from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
