Martin Scorsese is urging filmmakers to save cinema, by doubling down on his call to fight comic book movie culture.
The storied filmmaker is revisiting the topic of comic book movies in a new profile for GQ. Despite facing intense blowback from filmmakers, actors and the public for the 2019 comments he made slamming the Marvel Cinematic Universe films ā he called them theme parks rather than actual cinema ā Scorsese isnāt shying away from the topic.
āThe danger there is what itās doing to our culture,ā he told GQ. āBecause there are going to be generations now that think ā¦ thatās what movies are.ā
GQās Zach Baron posited that what Scorsese was saying might already be true, and the āKillers of the Flower Moonā filmmaker agreed.
āThey already think that. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And itās got to come from the grassroots level. Itās gotta come from the filmmakers themselves,ā Scorsese continued to the outlet. āAnd youāll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and youāll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit āem from all sides. Hit āem from all sides, and donāt give up. ā¦ Go reinvent. Donāt complain about it. But itās true, because weāve got to save cinema.ā
Scorsese referred to movies inspired by comic books as āmanufactured contentā rather than cinema.
āItās almost like AI making a film,ā he said. āAnd that doesnāt mean that you donāt have incredible directors and special effects people doing beautiful artwork. But what does it mean? What do these films, what will it give you?ā
His forthcoming film, āKillers of the Flower Moon,ā had been on Scorseseās wish list for several years; itās based on David Grannās 2017 nonfiction book of the same name. He called the story āa sober look at who we are as a culture.ā
The film tells the true story of the murders of Osage Nation members by white settlers in the 1920s. DiCaprio originally was attached to play FBI investigator Tom White, who was sent to the Osage Nation within Oklahoma to probe the killings. The script, however, underwent a significant rewrite.
āAfter a certain point,ā the filmmaker told Time, āI realized I was making a movie about all the white guys.ā
The dramatic focus shifted from Whiteās investigation to the Osage and the circumstances that led to them being systematically killed with no consequences.
The character of White now is played by Jesse Plemons in a supporting role. DiCaprio stars as the husband of a Native American woman, Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), an oil-rich Osage woman, and member of a conspiracy to kill her loved ones in an effort to steal her family fortune.
Scorsese worked closely with Osage Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear and his office from the beginning of production, consulting producer Chad Renfro told Time. On the first day of shooting, the Oscar-winning filmmaker had an elder of the nation come to set to say a prayer for the cast and crew.
What a coincidence that heās got a movie thatās āfighting backā *checks watch* oh right about now! š
Not only is this ridiculous (and untrue) fearmongering about the death of āreal cinemaā from an old man scared for his own relevance, itās such blatant self-promotion itās sickening. Dude would be better served being silent and maintaining his (admittedly deserved) reputation and prestige in the art form instead of tarnishing it with foolish declarations like this.
The Irishman got 9 Oscar nominations so Iām not really sure heās āfighting for his own relevance.ā
āold man scared of his own relevanceā being said about one of the greatest directors of all time and probably the greatest alive. Ffs manā¦
First, I never said he was irrelevant. I said heās scared that he is. Second, past accomplishments donāt negate current or future accountability for dumb statements like his.
I wonder when we will see a headline āech@lemm.ee punches back: āthereās a place for these movies, theyāre greatāā. Your body of work is what makes people care about your opinion. The fact that Scorcese has made such outstanding movies is why people think he might know something about themā¦ apparently you think those movies carry no weight but they absolutely do, this post existing in the first place being enough evidence of that already
Wonāt someone else stand up for the poor multi, multibillion dollar industry?? Think of the shareholders!!!
That you think Martin is somehow outside of this āpoor multi, multibillion dollar industryā that you think Iām defending really says everything.
I didnāt say he was outside it. But Iām not defending him like heās a victim like you are the marvel trash factory
Where did I do that?
Truth truth truth
Youāre wrong and Martin scorcese is right. First of all, heās Martin scorcese and youāre not. Also, he speaks the truth and youāre not. Heās articulating exactly what I started feeling around 2003. I get so much shit for not liking superhero movies despite them being absolute dog shit. Nice to finally feel like Iām not the only one.
Are you old, too?
I have a feeling Iām older than you, and thatās a good thing