Love this, fantastic writing fantastic ideas. It's a hustle culture thing too – individualism / growth / success renders everything else as obstacle. Puts everything in soft focus and you're wading through it, sludge, all that is left is you, mere you. Not to draw every buzzword into this as well but like ChatGPT sycophancy too – endless retreat inwards. World as enemy, art as a map to project yourself onto, other impossible, all self.
I planned on touching on the hustle culture but I felt such a momentum for posting the second I had finished editing. I think the idea of individualism is so linked with the idea that this individualism must come at some herculean price that only the individual can manage to forge their path, something we see disproved in the story of Marty Supreme but not the filmmaking itself.
I thought this was a rly great article! (Fwiw i havent seen marty supreme yet so can’t speak on that but i found myself agreeing with your points about film language) I think close ups can be beautiful (sternberg, cukor) but most filmmakers abuse the fuck out of them now lol. Definitely agree on environments, like we gotta get deep focus back in movies asap. If you don’t mind though, im curious what you meant by “good cinema doesn’t make you think of cinema”?
I do not mean as a whole that you will walk out of the theater and not question the technical aspects. What I mean is that when you are watching something that is within it's own element, hitting its pace, making every moment count, good cinema has no room for doubt because it exists within its own bounds. A good example of this is in Bergman's Autumn Sonata, Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Wells Aftersun. All films that establish their own rules and build upon them, finally subverting them to create their own world. A film is an individual thing but it stands on the shoulders of all of the films that came before. Personally, the greatest films are ones that understand this and then reorient that grammar to work within the confines of their own film. Good, The Bad and The Ugly's final three man standoff scene gave me heart palpitation, it's a scene that holds onto the mounting tension and does not let it dissipate for over a minute and a half. It's all eyes, hands. It's standstill yet it's one of the most kinetic scenes ever made. At no point did I question. I only believed.
Spent some time stewing on this after reading it immediately after I saw Marty Supreme on Sunday. That movie left me feeling drained....I had to go on a long walk where I bought some used books before starting to feel better....In a way, at least it elicited a strong reaction. But, something about it really bothered me as a work of "art." Thinking about the style so cramped on facial expressions, without any reference to the outside world, it was like being totally restricted to the world of the actor. On Saturday, I watched Ran by Akira Kurosawa, which may very well be the antithesis to Marty Supreme. Of course Ran is dark, tragic, brutal: but its world is beautiful, haunting, epic in scope, with a total collaboration of art and actor and extra and nature. Good piece, Nadav
I can see where you’re coming from, a lot of film nowadays feels like it’s based around the actors who star in them rather than the product itself. However, to me Marty Supreme it feels like it fits with the character, because a lot of those face shots, especially in new york, gives the sense he doesn’t want to be apart of the setting like he himself is somewhere else. Whereas when he’s playing we get a lot of those full body movement shots because he’s in his element and somewhere he wants to present.
Disagree. The usage of the full face shot is grammatically a grounding technique for filmmakers, you claim the opposite and while I wouldn't put that kind of subversion past a Safdie, particularly Josh I don't think it's something that's happening here. I'd go so far as to argue that he is always in his element, he's a compulsive con man and scoundrel. He's only out of his element when he loses, when he's run up against the end of his luck but we don't get any indication that this is happening from the camera, only from the narrative.
The safdies basically make imitations of what introspective, small indie film are but stripped of the heart of a real film. They’re like simulacrums. The brothers themselves have become too brain rotted by the downtown New York scene, they’re too self-aware of themselves as film makers.
finally read this now that india is showing marty supreme . turns out i didn’t need to. fabulous work as usual nadav :)
What does Nadav think of theater acting
I adore theater acting
We miss Robert Altman
Watching Three Women was formative
Love this, fantastic writing fantastic ideas. It's a hustle culture thing too – individualism / growth / success renders everything else as obstacle. Puts everything in soft focus and you're wading through it, sludge, all that is left is you, mere you. Not to draw every buzzword into this as well but like ChatGPT sycophancy too – endless retreat inwards. World as enemy, art as a map to project yourself onto, other impossible, all self.
I planned on touching on the hustle culture but I felt such a momentum for posting the second I had finished editing. I think the idea of individualism is so linked with the idea that this individualism must come at some herculean price that only the individual can manage to forge their path, something we see disproved in the story of Marty Supreme but not the filmmaking itself.
WOOF
I thought this was a rly great article! (Fwiw i havent seen marty supreme yet so can’t speak on that but i found myself agreeing with your points about film language) I think close ups can be beautiful (sternberg, cukor) but most filmmakers abuse the fuck out of them now lol. Definitely agree on environments, like we gotta get deep focus back in movies asap. If you don’t mind though, im curious what you meant by “good cinema doesn’t make you think of cinema”?
I do not mean as a whole that you will walk out of the theater and not question the technical aspects. What I mean is that when you are watching something that is within it's own element, hitting its pace, making every moment count, good cinema has no room for doubt because it exists within its own bounds. A good example of this is in Bergman's Autumn Sonata, Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Wells Aftersun. All films that establish their own rules and build upon them, finally subverting them to create their own world. A film is an individual thing but it stands on the shoulders of all of the films that came before. Personally, the greatest films are ones that understand this and then reorient that grammar to work within the confines of their own film. Good, The Bad and The Ugly's final three man standoff scene gave me heart palpitation, it's a scene that holds onto the mounting tension and does not let it dissipate for over a minute and a half. It's all eyes, hands. It's standstill yet it's one of the most kinetic scenes ever made. At no point did I question. I only believed.
Ohh yeah im fs on the same page esp in regards to how films should approach other films/film history!
I like this
We must change film.
Spent some time stewing on this after reading it immediately after I saw Marty Supreme on Sunday. That movie left me feeling drained....I had to go on a long walk where I bought some used books before starting to feel better....In a way, at least it elicited a strong reaction. But, something about it really bothered me as a work of "art." Thinking about the style so cramped on facial expressions, without any reference to the outside world, it was like being totally restricted to the world of the actor. On Saturday, I watched Ran by Akira Kurosawa, which may very well be the antithesis to Marty Supreme. Of course Ran is dark, tragic, brutal: but its world is beautiful, haunting, epic in scope, with a total collaboration of art and actor and extra and nature. Good piece, Nadav
I don’t agree with a lot of this but this is fantastic
I can see where you’re coming from, a lot of film nowadays feels like it’s based around the actors who star in them rather than the product itself. However, to me Marty Supreme it feels like it fits with the character, because a lot of those face shots, especially in new york, gives the sense he doesn’t want to be apart of the setting like he himself is somewhere else. Whereas when he’s playing we get a lot of those full body movement shots because he’s in his element and somewhere he wants to present.
Disagree. The usage of the full face shot is grammatically a grounding technique for filmmakers, you claim the opposite and while I wouldn't put that kind of subversion past a Safdie, particularly Josh I don't think it's something that's happening here. I'd go so far as to argue that he is always in his element, he's a compulsive con man and scoundrel. He's only out of his element when he loses, when he's run up against the end of his luck but we don't get any indication that this is happening from the camera, only from the narrative.
The safdies basically make imitations of what introspective, small indie film are but stripped of the heart of a real film. They’re like simulacrums. The brothers themselves have become too brain rotted by the downtown New York scene, they’re too self-aware of themselves as film makers.
Of the 169 films what’s been the best?
of this year?
Yessir
Sorry, Baby. One Battle After Another. 28 Years Later. All probably in my top 5
Benicio was Goated fr innit
few small beers
5 and drive as the saying goes