It’s been a busy few weeks forMartin Scorsesein the public eye. He turns 81 years old later this month, and for a few weeks now, he has had his newest opus in theaters,Killers of the Flower Moon. A three-and-a-half-hour film that has the ability to leave audiences emotionally devastated. But as it sits in theaters for us all to form an opinion on, another question circles around Scorsese and the crusade he has been on over the years. His battle to persevere cinema as a whole, and to keep movies in theaters without losing sight of the art form they are. Rather than have them become that awful word, content.
The man his friends call ‘Marty’ is arguably the greatest living director who has the respect of his peers and those coming up through the ranks under him. He admires the history of cinema; he’s an encyclopedia when you get him going in an interview. With his voice the loudest one from that side of the argument of content vs. cinema, let’s wonder for a moment: if all that has happened in the last six months in the movie business with union strikes and streamers upping their prices, does Scorsese now have the upper hand in the battle to keep cinema alive?
The Marvel Thing
All of this goes back to the Empire Magazine interview where Martin Scorsese compared Marvel films to theme park rides and said that they weren’t cinema. Harsh words to some that he later clarified in aNew York Times opinionpiece in late 2019. This came on the eve of the release of his then-film,The Irishman.Despite whether Scorsese meant no bad blood to any actor or director in the MCU or even the DCEU (and he most likely doesn’t), a line in the sand was drawn with those comments. Anyone who has ever picked up a comic book and dressed as their favorite superhero for Halloween read the writing on the wall like this: Scorsese thinks your favorite movie is trash.
But, to be really honest, are these really your favorite movies? Yeah, they’re a thrill ride, loaded with a roller coaster of emotions, and some parts are bright and colorful and make you laugh from the fun you’re having. It sounds like a theme park ride, doesn’t it? Cinema, on the other hand, is something deeper. The idea of being within the confines of a movie theater and having a story about the human experience displayed on screen through the lens of an auteur, or just someone with a plain old vision, has the ability to stay with you longer. How many times have you left a theater after a simple indie film, but it stayed attached to you for days afterward? That is cinema.
Now, undeniably, Marvel has had its run. But post-COVID, there is no doubt that it isn’t like it was during theInfinity Saga.Box office numbers aren’t the same, many CGI effects look unrendered, some of the jokes are out of place, andShe-Hulkis twerking with Megan Thee Stallion. What is going on here? Now Marvel may bounce back at some point; time will tell, but Scorsese’s gripe has gained momentum over the last few years, with many other directors jumping on his side of the fence and opposing the formula of superhero films.
Is Martin Scorsese Disputing Everything Marvel Stands for With His Latest Movie?
The battle between Martin Scorsese and the MCU continues with the director’s latest hit, Killers of the Flower Moon.
The WGA/SAG Strike
This past summer, the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild joined forces due to the streaming platforms not properly compensating the workers who are the backbone of the industry. Now, Scorsese was never seen on the pickett line yelling at Netflix’s office in Los Angeles, but that’s not the point here. To make a long story short, for a while, when something was sold to Netflix, the filmmaker or creator was given a chunk of change and never any residuals to go with it. Thus, adding to a film or show feeling more like content than something that people put their hard work into.
With this shift in the industrycaused by angry writers and actors not being compensated by their multi-millionaire bosses, in an economy that is hard for the common man to survive, many questions must be asked. Are the days of the streaming wars numbered because the creators of all the so-called content being made are falling victim to greed? What do we do if Netflix raises its prices again? Can we handle Time Warner merging into another streaming service? How much more money isPeacock going to lose next quarter?Well, we don’t know yet, but the niche group of film lovers who still own physical media and go to the theaters will be just fine as long as those parts of the art form are always protected. Hence, Scorsese’s war cry to preserve the integrity of the art is echoed even louder now.
Barbenheimer
The numbers at the box office have bounced back since COVID. But this past summer deserves to be studied from multiple different angles, either from a marketing perspective or just an overall cinephile point of view.Barbenheimer was the cultural phenomenonof having two films that feel like they’re on opposite sides of the spectrum release the same day and make history at the box office. BothOppenheimerandBarbiebecame blockbusters that also doubled as pure cinema. With messages in both that sit with audiences after the credits roll, Both Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan crafted respected films in the eyes of cinema lovers.
As of October 9th, Scorsese had not seen either film, but he defended the cultural impact they had on movies, saying that they were the"perfect storm" and that “it came about at the right time.“The special thing about these two films is that they played in theaters and made a combined 2.3 billion dollars.Barbiewas able to take a popular product marketed towards girls and make a movie with brilliant social commentary in it.Oppenheimerwas a three-hour biographical drama; getting butts in seats for something like that seemed unheard of these days for movie theaters. As of this summer, there is now proof that you don’t need a superhero to save cinema. You just need a great film (and potentially internet memes to help).
Oppenheimer vs Barbie: How the Films Rewrote Box Office History in One Week
Barbenheimer dazzled the box office with the enchanting Barbie and the gripping Oppenheimer films, setting new records and redefining movie magic.
Scorsese’s comments about Marvel back in 2019 have had a ripple effect into the 2020s. Yes, you can catch his work on streaming platforms, but you don’t hear him touting about watchingGoodfellason Max tonight if you’re bored in an Instagram video. He’s played the long game these last few years. His past two films have seemed to be more about consequences that impact the future. There’s a chance he’s heard the ticking clock, and he needed to get to work with what he felt was right. And look what’s happened.
Now, Marvel has had its fans turn away from the theater due to some dissatisfaction with what’s being produced with its characters. Netflix went from the product we all loved to the Mr. Burns of the movie industry.Prices have risen with their product,but anyone over the age of sixty will just tell you that’s how America works. Well, Scorsese isn’t telling you that. He’s telling you to go to the theaters or buy the new Criterion Collection box set of Michelangelo Antonioni films. Study the cinematic language of international movies in the past, present, and future.
Know that it’s okay to watch a movie with a character whose motives you disagree with because not everyone out there is likable. If none of this interests you, fine, go see the newAquamanmovie; it has great potential. But it doesn’t hurt to know what this art form is, where it came from, and where it needs to go.
