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 — he called them theme parks rather than actual cinema — Scorsese isn’t shying away from the topic.
“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture,” he told GQ. “Because there are going to be generations now that think ... that’s what movies are.”
GQ’s Zach Baron posited that what Scorsese was saying might already be true, and the “Killers of the Flower Moon” filmmaker agreed.
“They already think that. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves,” Scorsese continued to the outlet. “And you’ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ’em from all sides. Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up. ... Go reinvent. Don’t complain about it. But it’s true, because we’ve got to save cinema.”
Scorsese referred to movies inspired by comic books as “manufactured content” rather than cinema.
“It’s almost like AI making a film,” he said. “And that doesn’t mean that you don’t have incredible directors and special effects people doing beautiful artwork. But what does it mean? What do these films, what will it give you?”
His forthcoming film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” had been on Scorsese’s wish list for several years; it’s based on David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book of the same name. He called the story “a sober look at who we are as a culture.”
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.
“After a certain point,” the filmmaker told Time, “I realized I was making a movie about all the white guys.”
The dramatic focus shifted from White’s 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.
This is no different than an old man ranting that music was better in his day.
I think movies and music have developed differently with rise of technology. The barrier to entry for making music and having it become popular has dramatically changed. You could in theory make a short song, have it go viral on the short videos (Tiktok, IG Reels, YT Shorts, etc) and you can in theory become a household name.
You don't need a big company mediating that. Anyone with a shitty laptop and some free time can take a go at this.
Movies? Not so much. A movie requires millions of dollars and then requires big companies to handle distribution, advertisement, production, etc.
This difference creates a sort of competition in the music industry, keeping the record companies in check whereas that simply doesn't exist in the movie industry. They are different animals. If independent movie makers could easily make successful movies without big companies, then I think it would be different.
Having said all that, Talk To Me was made by a couple of YouTubers and that is having a lot of success and honestly is a great movie. So maybe it's changing in the movie industry too
It's highly unlikely some of those YouTubers don't have very wealthy connections or family.
I was curious so I looked them up. Their wiki doesn't have much info, but it did mention they grew up in Adelaide Australia. I looked up median home price there and you seem to be right, it's one of the richest parts of the country.
Regardless, from a quick cursory glance it seems they've been making videos since they were 11 years old. It was through their popular YouTube channel that they made certain connections. They for example managed to be a part of the filming of the Babadook, another great Australian horror movie.
So while yes, their wealth certainly helped I think YouTube becoming a conduit into more "legitimate" video form is something that I think will likely happen more and more
Movies have shifted from dialogue and storytelling to glitter and flash. The depth of content is not what it used to be.
We can continue the music analogy again, if you'd like.
Or you could just learn to listen
Oh, but no, it's not you that's the problem, it's everyone else actively voicing a serious problem in media that's at fault. 🫤
That's an aggressive response. No wonder you agree with Scorsese. You obviously have decided what art and film are, and everyone elses subjective opinion (because it's fucking art, not math) is wrong.
But really, the first comment, the one with more upvotes than you, is right. This is no different thatln some white dude telling you rap isn't real music, and classical is the only artful form of music. And of course a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals will agree, because it makes you feel fancy.