Martin Scorsese, the king of comedy.
Years ago, a Tumblr user posted a photo of a “Knock-Off” shoe bought online with a weird tag that read, “The greatest mafia movie of all time. Martin Scorsese presents Goncharov. Domenico Proccacci production. A film by Matteo JWHJ0715. About the Naples Mafia.”
Scorsese has directed other mafia films like The Irishman and Goodfellas – but not 1973’s Goncharov.
At least that’s what everyone thought. The Oscar-winning actor finally acknowledged his unofficial, internet-famous mafia masterpiece this week.
You may not have heard of “Goncharov” before, but it has postera theme song and an accompanying video game.
It even has a tagline: “The greatest mob movie(s) ever made.” The dream all-star cast includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Hackman and Harvey Keitel.
Martin Scorsese addresses the audience during a screening of “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” October 13 as part of the 60th New York Film Festival. Getty Images for FLC
The film went unforgettable gold when the image of the mysterious shoe label was reblogged in 2020 with the caption “That idiot didn’t see Goncharov”.
The official Tumblr account even touched on the film’s popularity in a tweet Earlier this week: “Goncharov was inexplicably ahead [its] Time and his contribution to cinema is remarkable. Rarely does a film tell so many diverse and yet interconnected stories. It’s hard to believe that so few people have seen it.”
Reports in the New York Times and the Guardian followed. Forbes speculated that the unusual shoe label may have misspelled ‘Gomorrah,’ the 2008 Italian drama about the Naples Mafia directed by Matteo Garrone. Scorsese’s name was used in marketing materials at the time.
The discussion about “Goncharov” reached such a high point that Scorsese’s daughter Francesca addressed the film on TikTok on Friday. The 23-year-old said she sent her father the Times article about the social media phenomenon and asked if he had seen it.
“Yes. I did that movie years ago,” Scorsese replied, seemingly caught up in the joke.
Scorsese’s recent works include Personality Crisis: One Night Only, The Eternal Daughter, The Last Movie Stars, Theodore Roosevelt and Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel.
…and maybe a re-release of “Goncharov”?