Never seen Martin Scorsese‘s 1973 gangster classic Goncharov? Well, if not, don’t fret, because the movie was never actually made. A few years ago, a Tumblr user posted an image of their newly-purchased knock-off boots with the caption, “I got these knockoff boots online and instead of the brand name on the tag they have the name of an apparently nonexistent Martin Scorsese movie??? what the f***.” The tag of the boots reads “Martin Scorsese presents Goncharov,” which is most likely referring to Gomorrah, a 2008 Italian film that Scorsese did some promotion for. Soon, other Tumblr users replied that Goncharov is a real movie, turning the fake film into an iconic meme. Now, it has become clear that Scorsese is aware of the meme, and seems to find it quite humorous.
Actress Francesca Scorsese, the daughter of the prolific filmmaker, recently posted a TikTok addressing the Goncharov meme and whether her famous dad was aware of its existence or not. In the TikTok, another TikTok user is shown asking whether Francesca had to tell her father about the meme. Francesca stitches the other TikTok, and answers the question by showing screenshots between her and her dad. In the screenshot, Francesca Scorsese sends her father an article about Goncharov featuring a fake poster and asks, “Did you see this?” Martin Scorsese replies with, “Yes. I made that film years ago,” implying that the filmmaker is aware of the meme and thinks it’s actually quite funny.
The point of the meme is to make people believe that “Goncharov” is a real movie, and the ones behind it have created a fake plot and cast for the film to make it all the more believable. The nonexistent film is said to star Robert De Niro as the title character, a Russian hitman living in Naples. The film’s plot would follow Goncharov as he falls into a love triangle with his wife and a man named Andry, and goes head-to-head with a deranged assassin named Ice Pick Joe. Cybill Shepherd would portray De Niro’s wife while Harvey Keitel would play Andry. The film would also feature Al Pacino, John Cazale, and Gene Hackman. Because no one has heard of it, the internet memesters have declared that Goncharov was a troubled production and is a lost film.
Based on his text exchange with his daughter, it seems clear that Martin Scorsese is in on the Goncharov joke and wants to further convince people of the fictional film’s existence. However, since the filmmaker seems to be fond of the idea of the film, maybe the 80-year-old Scorsese will actually make Goncharov in his lifetime.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for a Scorsese film from the ’70s, check out the trailer for Taxi Driver below: