Martin Scorsese is a household name, which is quite impressive for a film director. Scorsese is without a doubt considered one of the great cinema directors of our time, with his films bringing in millions at the box office and earning him a reputation that proceeds him. Many “film bros” love Scorsese’s work, claiming Taxi Driver, The Wolf of Wall Street, or Goodfellas as their favorite of his films. There’s no disputing the fact that Scorsese has directed and produced many, many films either – and this is where the mythical feature Goncharov comes into play.

Goncharov came into being one weekend on Tumblr and instantly was picked up as a hilarious joke. Countless posts about Goncharov flooded the website, quickly making their way to Twitter, Instagram, and then into the real world. The “film bros” who love Scorsese so much were the victims of this prank, and while many fell for it for a short period of time, Goncharov’s legacy is just beginning.

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The Greatest Mafia Movie (N)ever Made

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On August 21st, 2020, Tumblr user Zootycoon was the first person to share a post about the mythical, long forgotten and lost Scorsese movie Goncharov.

The post is simple and has since been deleted, but on November 18th it spread across Tumblr quickly. This mysterious pair of shoes with “Martin Scorsese presents Goncharov” written on the tag went viral following the comment from user Abandonedambition, “this idiot hasn’t seen goncharov.”

The joke picked up steam, and just like that, Goncharov was born. In the hours that followed, a fake movie poster was created by user beelzeebub, which gave the fictional production more mystique. Was it a real film? Was it all a lie? Scorsese has worked on many films, some of which are often forgotten. Fanfiction starring the fake Goncharov characters began to flood Archive of Our Own, giving the joke further legitimacy. There were even fake Letterboxed reviews. The lines began to blur between fiction and reality as more people piled onto the trend.

The essential joke of Goncharov is that anything someone says about the film becomes true. You could say you loved watching Goncharov on a bootleg back in the 70s. You could say that Robert De Niro starred in it, as he did in other Scorsese movies. Some even said the film was plagued by an outbreak of rabies.

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As the joke grew in popularity, it spread outside of Tumblr and tricked many unsuspecting film lovers into believing there was a long-lost Scorsese mafia movie out there. It was all a lie, but it was a good one because everything about it fits what a Scorsese movie should be about.

Allegedly, it starred Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, and Al Pacino. It was released in 1973 and followed a classic gangster film tale. The poster even looked like other Scorsese films from the time. The agreed-upon plot goes something like this.

So how did Goncharov supposedly become a long-lost film? Apparently, its production was fraught, which eventually led to the film never being completed or securing a release date. In the end, all Goncharov turned out to be was a mistranslation of the 2008 film Gomorrah that ended up on a pair of knock-off boots.

However, that isn’t where the story of Goncharov ends. As its popularity as a joke grew, more and more film industry professionals learned about Goncharov. Eventually, it made its way to the top, and Scorsese heard about his alleged long-lost film.

Francesca Scorsese, the film director’s daughter, shared an article about Goncharov in a text to her father. She asked if he knew about Goncharov. Scorsese’s reply was “Yes. I made that film years ago.” It seems that even the director himself is in on this Tumblr joke.

Since Scorsese’s comment on the fictional film, the hype has died down. Goncharov had a fabulous but fleeting moment in the spotlight, and as the Internet does, it moved on to the next funny thing to talk about. Martin Scorsese has been gearing up for the production of his next project, a TV series adaptation of his 2002 film Gangs of New York. While there are still talks of writing the screenplay for Goncharov and attempting to get it produced by fans, for now it seems the meme has run its course.

Goncharov might not be a real Scorsese movie, but it can definitely claim the title of the Greatest Mafia Movie Never Made.