Introduction:

Martin Scorsese’s hit movie, The Irishman, is based on the novel I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. The Irishman details a narrative spanning 50 years into the life of Frank Sheeran who once was an innocent truck driver who hauled sides of beef, turned into a ruthless hitman for the mob. Frank unknowingly at the time took the first step into joining the mob when he ran into a man at a gas station after his truck had broken down. The man helped Frank fix his truck, and Frank thanked him and headed on his way. This man turned out to be mob boss Russell Bufalino and he didn’t forget about Frank. When Frank told Russell about his experiences from the war, Russell quickly learned that Frank developed the skills of a hitman while serving in WWII and knew he found the guy who’d fit right into the business he was trying to run. Thus, Frank’s second career as a member of the mob was underway. Frank became a “house-Painter” which was code for a contracted killer. Whatever you needed to be done, Frank would do. Frank, later on, comes into contact with a man named Jimmy Hoffa who was the head of the Teamsters union and one of the most powerful men in the United States through Russell. According to Frank, the first thing Jimmy said to him was “I heard you paint houses”, which was an offer for Frank to join Jimmy and his team as well and Frank accepted. With that Frank was a member of the teamsters and the Buffalo crime family. Though this job with Jimmy Hoffa while still off the record was much less bloody and extreme than his work with Russell Bufalino. When you do dirty work for two very important people, oftentimes you must choose where your loyalties lie.

Losing Peggy:

The life that Frank Sheeran lived caused him to lose a relationship with his daughter, Peggy. Peggy at a young age watched as her father beat a local shopkeeper in the street until one of his hands was no longer functional for having shoved Peggy over some disagreement in his store. Putting yourself into the shoes of a young adolescent you might be able to see why this was so damaging. Throughout the movie, Scorsese repeatedly cuts to Peggy’s point of view, and the viewer can see her quietly observing her father from a distance. Peggy can almost always tell when her father had gone out and murdered someone and sometimes it seems as if Peggy is the only one who sees her father for who he truly is. When Jimmy Hoffa was murdered Peggy almost immediately knew it was her father’s doing, and from that day forward never talked to him again. She wouldn’t even speak to him when he went and visited her at the bank while his health was decaying and he was dying. Furthermore, she wouldn’t even make eye contact with her father at Franks’s 2nd wife’s funeral. Peggy is the one in the family with a moral compass and turns out to be a great judge of character, Though Peggy does become closely attached to Jimmy. Jimmy Hoffa was a naturally honest and sociable person and Peggy gravitated towards him despite all his wrongdoings. This is the main reason why Peggy was never able to forgive her father. Maybe she could tolerate the killing of people that had no relation to her but when her father killed a long-time family friend, that was the final straw.

Signs of Catholic Faith Throughout the movie:

The first two-thirds or so of The Irishman narrates the life of a mob hitman, Frank Sheeran, through his own eyes; and to be honest, while there were some small indications of religion throughout the first two-thirds of the movie. For example, Frank vowed to never smoke again after a promise he had made to god while he was fighting in Cuba, and Dolores, the fourth child of Frank Sheeran was baptized by Russell and Corey which shows that Frank is a catholic to some extent. Then, there is when Frank and Russell would meet to discuss business and their conversations would begin by tearing pieces of bread from a loaf, dipping them in wine, and eating it, a practice known as intinction. Other than these examples, Religion really was not all that prevalent through the first two-thirds of the movie. Then, In the last hour or so of the movie, you start to see a shift. Near the end of Russell’s life, he begins to attend church regularly. Frank openly ridicules Russell at first but before Russell passes he tells Frank, “don’t laugh, you’ll see”. Indeed Frank does see, Frank is starting to watch his peers become old and ill, and Frank knows that he is next but can’t seem to grasp that turning into nothing is the way his life will end. This is where his faith catholicism begins to re-emerge. Frank has always been a Nominal Catholic, which is a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord. Frank has made sure that his children are baptized but other than that he was not very religious up until this point. 

Frank in his later years is now alone, and because of the violent life he has lived, has alienated himself from everyone who has cared about him. All alone and with the possibility of an afterlife, Frank begins to see a priest. Though Frank does open up to the priest he still remains faithful to the Mafia code of silence, the omerta, and is careful not to provide details. Frank was near the end of his life and he seemed to want penance for his sins but was unable to offer confession. The priest asks Frank if he feels any remorse for anything he has done but Frank states that it is all “water under the dam.” while the actions may have been wrong and frank knew that, in his eyes, it was over and done with and nothing more is needed to be said. The Priest goes on to tell Frank that it is possible to be sorry without really feeling sorry and that you can see confession as an act of will. Frank then agrees to join the priest in prayer for forgiveness while simultaneously flipping through a stack of photos of the people that meant the most to him. Frank later on in his prayer with the priest says “what kind of a man makes a phone call like that?” Frank was referring to when he called Jimmy’s wife to help comfort her on the “disappearance” of her husband. During this call, he assured Jimmy’s wife that Jimmy would be okay and that she shouldn’t worry but during this whole call Frank knew in the back of his mind that Jimmy wasn’t really coming back because he killed him. This is the first time throughout the entire movie that I can remember Frank showing any type of remorse or guilt. The second, was at the very end of the movie when Frank asks the priest to keep his door open. This is an attempt to pay homage and symbol of when Frank and Jimmy were at a hotel together and Jimmy wanted to keep the door to his room open, It shows regret In the way that he wants to do what Jimmy would have done.

The idea of quattuor novissima:

Quattuor Novissima in English translates to “the last four things” The last four things describe the four last stages of the soul in life and the afterlife, the four last things of man are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Towards the end of the movie  Frank undoubtedly faces the four last things. First is death, many people close to Frank have now died from either old age and illness or were murdered. The second thing Frank faces is judgment. Frank is judged by his daughter, she won’t even speak to him anymore or even make eye contact with him as a result of the life Frank lived. Even as Franks’s health is rapidly decaying Peggy still refuses to speak to him. He was a murderer who seemed to never feel any guilt or remorse for his actions and because of that frank has been judged and condemned to living the rest of his mortal life alone. Last is Franks’s biggest confrontation, the one between heaven and hell. At the very end of the movie Frank beings to confide in a priest for the first time in his life. The priest convinces Frank to seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is when the faithful are absolved from sins committed after baptism and reconciled. At the end of the movie, it seems like Frank still doesn’t feel much remorse for everything he has done but he is still open to change and open to the idea of god.

Conclusion:

While the first two-thirds of The Irishman doesn’t seem to entail much about religion at all. The elements of catholicism in the last part of the movie create a whole new light to the movie that seemingly came out of nowhere. The Irishman follows the life of Frank Sheeran from the start of his mob career, all the way until the end of his life. For 50 years jumping in and out of timelines. Frank Sheeran was Catholic but did not commit himself to the religion until the end of his life, likely as an attempt to avoid going to hell. I think that one of the most important tales this story tells is that it is never too late to commit to God. Frank, a man full of sin found his way to God at the very end of his life and for that, saved himself from a life in hell. Overall I think this was a really well-filmed movie with a great cast that helped portray the theme of Catholicism in hidden ways that you have to look deep into to find.