Everybody has a favorite Martin Scorsese movie. Maybe it’s a classic like Taxi Driver or Goodfellas. Or it could be Best Picture winner The Departed or The Wolf of Wall Street. Or perhaps it’s Goncharov, released in 1973–except it wasn’t and the movie is a complete fabrication of the internet.
The fictional movie is making the rounds on the internet–stemming from Tumblr of all places–and has since gone viral. he poster for Goncharov stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Cybill Shepherd, and Harvey Keitel in an eyepatch for some reason.
The poster is a scatterbrained example of not only lousy Photoshop, but inconsistent details. At the top it says “Martin Scorsese presents” and gives director credit to somebody named Matteo JWHJ 0715, but the bottom clearly states it was directed by Scorsese and merely written by Mr. 0715. So who directed “The Greatest Mafia Movie Ever Made”? Well, nobody, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t having fun hunting down the fictional lost movie.
Goncharov devotees are turning the “Martin Scorsese movie” into a low-key phenomenon, posting stills, phony Letterboxd reviews and actual scores. Sometimes the internet community really does come together for something positive.
The story actually goes back to 2020 but has since grown much larger, building a lore around Goncharov that has reached new heights.
The unofficial plot to this completely nonexistent movie: “Former discotheque owner Goncharov comes to Naples, Italy, after the fall of the Soviet Union and gets embroiled in the world of organized crime. He ends up crossing paths with Andrey, a banker. The two have a lot of sexual tension going on, to the point where many believe that all the deaths would be prevented if they just fucked. Meanwhile, his unsatisfied wife, Katya, must come to terms with her father’s death as she becomes entangled with a mysterious woman named Sofia.”
For those looking to see an actual Martin Scorsese movie, his next outing, Killers of the Flower Moon, comes out in 2023.
Martin Scorsese’s Goncharov may be entirely concocted by the internet, but based on the plot, character details and the poster, would you watch it? Let us know your thoughts on the story below!