Repeating patterns sometimes recontextualize actions, other times reveal hidden meaning or tap into the repressed emotions of the characters. In a fatalistic manner the end and the beginning are intertwined from the very start. Character introductions feature statements about their deaths in the form of cold, lifeless, objective facts, which contrast wildly with the energetic style, reminiscent of the previous De Niro-Scorsese flicks. Except here the style gradually winds down, giving way for deafening silence and an increasing amount of still and longer shots. In the old age all that's left are the ghosts of the past. And their presences become that much more ubiquitous, almost as if to submerge the protagonist's little world in them.