Marvel Movies and the Importance of Waiting
Recently, Martin Scorsese caught some flack for likening Marvel movies -- and superhero movies in general -- to theme parks. His biggest criticism was that these stories present no emotional stakes for the characters and subsequently, for the audience. There are many ways in which Marvel movies differ from the works that Scorsese would point to as pinnacles of filmmaking. In his New York Times opinion piece, Scorsese gives Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre Sa Vie as examples among others.
But is Scorsese's criticism justified? Are today's moviegoers really unacquainted with film as an art form? Aren't there countless Marvel movies that comfortably rate over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes? Is Martin Scorsese just an old-timer who simply doesn't get the new form of filmmaking?
In the opinion piece, Scorsese writes that true filmmaking is about characters, about how people engage with or even indulge in contradictory desires and hurt the ones they love. Put another way, Scorsese's criticism would stand as long as Marvel movies truly fail to present a compelling study of their characters.
I feel conflicted about Scorsese's criticism because while I do agree Marvel movies do not explore characters to the fullest extent moving images (i.e. movies) can, I believe Scorsese's criticism is both unfair and misplaced.
The criticism is unfair because very few directors in the history of filmmaking have ever shown to be capable of creating films that are both large in scale and deeply personal. Really, how many David Leans and Akira Kurosawas can we expect to be born every century?
The plots of Marvel movies involve threats of planet-wide or even universal destruction. The bigger the world external to character looms in a motion picture, the harder it becomes for the internal world of characters to claim the spotlight.
But are Marvel movies the only movies today that fall short of true filmmaking? In my opinion, if any contemporary tent-pole movie deserves criticism for its filmmaking failures, it's The Last Jedi; none of the Marvel movies I've seen involve a disillusioned, disgruntled mentor archetype milking a giant alien sea cow in a hodgepodge of tonal imbalance.
Subversion of expectations can be powerful when done the right way like when a character that yells "respect the cock and tame the cunt" at his self-help seminars turns out to have taken care of his dying mom as a child after his father abandoned them. Or when the same character visits his father on his deathbed to confront him ends up crying and begging him to not die (link). But it doesn't mean any subversion of expectations is palatable. Your date who stayed the night revealing she has AIDS the morning after is subversive. But that's the type of subversion that kind of ruins your day. The Last Jedi was a ruthless series of morning-after AIDS revelations.
Anyway, the point is Marvel movies aren't the only major movies today that do not fully exploit or serve film as a medium. So what is one element many films today could have more of? Waiting. We don't wait any longer. Most directors often don't stay with a shot, take, or scene long enough for the moment to gel. They cut not to serve the story or the character but to visually stimulate the audience. But since the cuts do not add to the story, they are nothing but artificial stimulants that in fact get in the way of compelling storytelling; before the audience can fully soak in a character's emotional state or development, they are cut off to something else.
To be clear, cuts that are called for by the moment in the story can help to further pull the audience into the moment. But with cuts that are as unnecessary as Jeff Bezo's haircuts, character development and emotional resonance of the film is cut down.
Here are some examples of deliberate takes that richly tease out the characters' emotions and wants.
Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers
Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre Sa Vie and Contempt
Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura
Federico Fellini's 8 1/2
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar
Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums
Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru
David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia
By throwing out too many examples, I probably run the risk of overwhelming. So in that case, I would recommend just checking out Godard's Contempt example. It's in French and there is no subtitle. But even if you don't know any French, you will still feel like you're in the room with the characters. In fact, every time I finish watching Godard's Contempt, I feel as if the two protagonists are old friends from the town that the film is set in. And the feeling comes largely in part thanks to the film's extensive use of long takes.
As powerful as deliberate takes can be, it is true that patience has been evaporating among moviegoers for some time. Cuts in movies are growing more impatient by the year. And Marvel movies are certainly contributing. So Martin Scorsese may be right to lament how Marvel movies may be more or less limiting today's moviegoer's capacity to truly feel cinema.
It is possible that none of the examples I gave really resonated. But in that case, I strongly recommend you pick the example you enjoyed the most and watch the whole film. Little by little, exposure to these deliberate takes can liven your latent appreciation for them. And after that, many gems from the past that may frankly be boring will turn into scintillating treats. Learn to enjoy the wait. It'll be worth it.
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| Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre Sa Vie |
But is Scorsese's criticism justified? Are today's moviegoers really unacquainted with film as an art form? Aren't there countless Marvel movies that comfortably rate over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes? Is Martin Scorsese just an old-timer who simply doesn't get the new form of filmmaking?
In the opinion piece, Scorsese writes that true filmmaking is about characters, about how people engage with or even indulge in contradictory desires and hurt the ones they love. Put another way, Scorsese's criticism would stand as long as Marvel movies truly fail to present a compelling study of their characters.
I feel conflicted about Scorsese's criticism because while I do agree Marvel movies do not explore characters to the fullest extent moving images (i.e. movies) can, I believe Scorsese's criticism is both unfair and misplaced.
The criticism is unfair because very few directors in the history of filmmaking have ever shown to be capable of creating films that are both large in scale and deeply personal. Really, how many David Leans and Akira Kurosawas can we expect to be born every century?
The plots of Marvel movies involve threats of planet-wide or even universal destruction. The bigger the world external to character looms in a motion picture, the harder it becomes for the internal world of characters to claim the spotlight.
But are Marvel movies the only movies today that fall short of true filmmaking? In my opinion, if any contemporary tent-pole movie deserves criticism for its filmmaking failures, it's The Last Jedi; none of the Marvel movies I've seen involve a disillusioned, disgruntled mentor archetype milking a giant alien sea cow in a hodgepodge of tonal imbalance.
Subversion of expectations can be powerful when done the right way like when a character that yells "respect the cock and tame the cunt" at his self-help seminars turns out to have taken care of his dying mom as a child after his father abandoned them. Or when the same character visits his father on his deathbed to confront him ends up crying and begging him to not die (link). But it doesn't mean any subversion of expectations is palatable. Your date who stayed the night revealing she has AIDS the morning after is subversive. But that's the type of subversion that kind of ruins your day. The Last Jedi was a ruthless series of morning-after AIDS revelations.
Anyway, the point is Marvel movies aren't the only major movies today that do not fully exploit or serve film as a medium. So what is one element many films today could have more of? Waiting. We don't wait any longer. Most directors often don't stay with a shot, take, or scene long enough for the moment to gel. They cut not to serve the story or the character but to visually stimulate the audience. But since the cuts do not add to the story, they are nothing but artificial stimulants that in fact get in the way of compelling storytelling; before the audience can fully soak in a character's emotional state or development, they are cut off to something else.
To be clear, cuts that are called for by the moment in the story can help to further pull the audience into the moment. But with cuts that are as unnecessary as Jeff Bezo's haircuts, character development and emotional resonance of the film is cut down.
Here are some examples of deliberate takes that richly tease out the characters' emotions and wants.
Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers
Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre Sa Vie and Contempt
Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura
Federico Fellini's 8 1/2
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar
Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums
Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru
David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia
By throwing out too many examples, I probably run the risk of overwhelming. So in that case, I would recommend just checking out Godard's Contempt example. It's in French and there is no subtitle. But even if you don't know any French, you will still feel like you're in the room with the characters. In fact, every time I finish watching Godard's Contempt, I feel as if the two protagonists are old friends from the town that the film is set in. And the feeling comes largely in part thanks to the film's extensive use of long takes.
As powerful as deliberate takes can be, it is true that patience has been evaporating among moviegoers for some time. Cuts in movies are growing more impatient by the year. And Marvel movies are certainly contributing. So Martin Scorsese may be right to lament how Marvel movies may be more or less limiting today's moviegoer's capacity to truly feel cinema.
It is possible that none of the examples I gave really resonated. But in that case, I strongly recommend you pick the example you enjoyed the most and watch the whole film. Little by little, exposure to these deliberate takes can liven your latent appreciation for them. And after that, many gems from the past that may frankly be boring will turn into scintillating treats. Learn to enjoy the wait. It'll be worth it.
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