You may ask yourself, moments into The Irishman: What does “I heard you paint houses” mean? The curious phrase flies across the screen in the Martin Scorsese mob epic at the exact point when you might expect to see the films title.
The phrase is a nod to the movie’s source material. The Irishman is based on I Heard You Paint Houses, Charles Brandt’s book about the confessions of mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran. As you’ve probably guessed, Sheeran was better with a gun than a paintbrush.
“I heard you paint houses” is one of the first things Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) says to Sheeran (Robert De Niro) when they meet in the film. This tracks closely with I Heard You Paint Houses, in which Sheeran recounts:
“The first words Jimmy ever spoke to me were ‘I heard you paint houses.’ The paint is the blood that supposedly gets on the wall or the floor when you shoot somebody. I told Jimmy, ‘I do my own carpentry work, too.’ That refers to making coffins and means you get rid of the bodies yourself.”
Also Read:Who Was Jimmy Hoffa? Things to Know Before You See The Irishman
Brandt, a former prosecutor, won Sheeran’s trust after helping get him released from jail on medical grounds in 1991, and interviewed Sheeran afterwards. Sheeran had second thoughts, but resumed his interviews with Brandt in 1999.
The book, like the movie, is full of mob slang, including not just “I heard you paint houses” but also mafia colloquialisms like “going to school” (going to prison) and “candy” (explosives). It’s a fascinating read, and reading it before you see The Irishman won’t ruin the movie for you.
Also Read: Here’s How Old Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci Are in Some of the Film’s Key Scenes
The book and movie purport to solve the mystery of what happened to Jimmy Hoffa, a labor leader who, as the movie explains, is unknown to many people today. But in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, he was respected and feared for his control of the Teamsters, and specifically the trucks that delivered necessities to people all over America. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy (Sheeran says Hoffa preferred to call him “Booby Kennedy,”) declared legal war on Hoffa as he tried to connect him with Mafia muscle and put him behind bars.
Hoffa was eventually convicted of jury tampering in Nashville, and disappeared in 1975 as he was attempting to regain control of the Teamsters. It was around this time, Sheeran writes, that someone decided to paint his house.
As De Niro and director Martin Scorsese have explained, they were initially interested in adapting the addictive Don Winslow novel The Winter of Frankie Machine, about a retired Southern California gangster-surfer dragged back into criminal life, when they discovered Brandt’s book and considered combining the two stories. But I Heard You Paint Houses won out, overtaking the Winslow project.
The Irishman went on to become one of Netflix’s ten-most-watched films of all time. It was nominated for 10 Oscars, and was once seen as a favorite to win Best Picture, but ended up not winning in any of its categories.
The Irishman is now streaming on Netflix.
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