A massive new profile feature has gone up at GQ speaking with filmmaker Martin Scorsese and covering a range of topics.
By far though, the already most discussed element coming out of that interview this morning is his stance on comic book and franchise culture.
Scorsese has spoken at length about the state of movie-going in the past, famously stating around this time four years ago that Marvel movies are “not cinema”.
When asked about blockbuster franchise overall these days, not just superhero films, Scorsese says their dominance of the market could be negative to audiences:
“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture, because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those – that’s what movies are.
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.
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. Let’s see what you got. Go out there and do it. Go reinvent. Don’t complain about it. But it’s true, because we’ve got to save cinema.”
The director continued with the line: “I do think that the manufactured content isn’t really cinema” to which the interviewer advised “you don’t need to say this”. Scorsese continued nonetheless:
“It’s almost like AI making a film. 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? Aside from a kind of consummation of something and then eliminating it from your mind, your whole body, you know? So what is it giving you?”
Scorsese’s next film, the historical epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” will be released in theaters on October 20th.
