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 isnā€™t shying away from the topic.

ā€œThe danger there is what itā€™s doing to our culture,ā€ he told GQ. ā€œBecause there are going to be generations now that think ā€¦ thatā€™s what movies are.ā€

GQā€™s Zach Baron posited that what Scorsese was saying might already be true, and the ā€œKillers of the Flower Moonā€ filmmaker agreed.

ā€œThey already think that. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And itā€™s got to come from the grassroots level. Itā€™s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves,ā€ Scorsese continued to the outlet. ā€œAnd youā€™ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and youā€™ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ā€™em from all sides. Hit ā€™em from all sides, and donā€™t give up. ā€¦ Go reinvent. Donā€™t complain about it. But itā€™s true, because weā€™ve got to save cinema.ā€

Scorsese referred to movies inspired by comic books as ā€œmanufactured contentā€ rather than cinema.

ā€œItā€™s almost like AI making a film,ā€ he said. ā€œAnd that doesnā€™t mean that you donā€™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?ā€

His forthcoming film, ā€œKillers of the Flower Moon,ā€ had been on Scorseseā€™s wish list for several years; itā€™s based on David Grannā€™s 2017 nonfiction book of the same name. He called the story ā€œa 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.

ā€œAfter a certain point,ā€ the filmmaker told Time, ā€œI realized I was making a movie about all the white guys.ā€

The dramatic focus shifted from Whiteā€™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.

  • sirdorius@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    I mean, canā€™t we just have both? On some days I want to see a silly lighthearted action movie and on some days I want to see a heart wrenching story about the deepest darkest recesses of the human mind. Itā€™s not a zero sum game.

    • wewbull@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      Weā€™ve just had the highest grossin opening weekend with Barbenhiemer.

      Yes, we can have both. They need to have both otherwise they are only accomodating part of their audience.

    • pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      The Barbie movie is a perfect example of the balance of pinache and meaning, and mainstream movies ought to learn from that.

      • Margot Robbie@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        And that lead actress, whoever she is, should totally get an Oscar for her performance this year.

    • thoro@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Something can be lighthearted or action based and still be interesting film making in contrast to the paint by numbers MCU films and some others.

      Itā€™s pure action, but Fury Road is an example of a simple action movie that had thought put into the editing, cinematography, etc. Barbie is light hearted but similarly had some ideas to play with.

    • KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It literally is a zero sum game. Studios dump all their money into these types of movies and thereā€™s no money left over for the ā€œstory about the deepest darkest recesses of the human mind.ā€

      • sirdorius@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        You are assuming that if Marvel movies didnā€™t exist everyone would just go watch Requiem for a Dream instead, which is just silly. They target different audiences and the same people could choose to see one today and the other tomorrow. Itā€™s not like Oppenheimer was made by a bunch of indies scraping money on Kickstarter.

        • KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Iā€™m not assuming anything like that. Thatā€™s you putting your ridiculous dichotomic outlook of any subject into someone elseā€™s mouth. Thereā€™s a good chance if Requiem for a Dream required a 2023 movie budget, it wouldnā€™t have even been made. An unknown director/writer with a 2023 budget with a movie like that? Ha. There would have been no option to see that the next day. Also, are you comparing Requiem for a Dream to Oppenheimer?

      • anonono@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        disney isnā€™t the only one funding movies.

        your regular $15m arty pantsy black and white movie isnā€™t paid for the mouse.