Amidst the live-action films, sequels, and comic-book-inspired films, the summer of 2023 provided us with some original cinema. It witnessed the biggest box-office clash of the decade with Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ and Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’. These two feature films have gotten approval from one of the most important directors of our time, Martin Scorsese.
Currently, Martin Scorsese wrapped up the festival run of his upcoming Western titled ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’. The film is an adaptation of a 2017 novel by journalist David Grann. The film received a nine-minute standing ovation during the Cannes Film Festival. Scorsese, in his recent interviews, is claiming that cinema needs saving due to theme park-like films being produced. Though he did not watch either ‘Barbie’ or ‘Oppenheimer’, he thinks that both films created a perfect storm amidst a dearth of originality.
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Martin Scorsese Deems ‘Oppenheimer’ And ‘Barbie’ Combination ‘Special’
Though Martin Scorsese did not watch ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, the cultural conversation around the two films has restored hope in the director. Scorsese said that both films created a perfect storm.
Christopher Nolan’s nuclear drama presented the moral dilemma of Robert J. Oppenheimer after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb. Whereas Margot Robbie-starrer employed the feminist lens to tell the story of gender discrepancies in the real world using the Barbie doll.
Martin Scorsese said, “I do think that the combination of ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ was something special. It seemed to be, I hate that word, but the perfect storm. It came about at the right time. And the most important thing is that people went to watch these in a theater. And I think that’s wonderful.”
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The Director Thinks The Films Created Hope For Different Cinema To Emerge
Both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ received both critical and commercial acclaim. The former entered the $1 billion club 17 days after its release, whereas ‘Oppenheimer’ is still going strong with a $939 gross collection worldwide.
Martin Scorsese provided the contrast between both films and expressed contentment with seeing a new cinema get accepted by the audience. He said, “The way it fit perfectly — a film with such entertainment value, purely with the bright colors — and a film with such severity and strength, and pretty much about the danger of the end to our civilization — you couldn’t have more opposite films to work together.”
The ‘Irishman’ director continued, “It does offer some hope for a different cinema to emerge, different from what’s been happening in the last 20 years, aside from the great work being done in independent cinema. I always get upset by that, the independent films being relegated to ‘indies.’ Films that only a certain kind of people would like. Just show them on a tiny screen somewhere.”
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