Marty Supreme
riveting is the word to describe this.
every bit of this is shaking, provoking. timothee chalamet…everything has been said about his performance, but not enough. you can see him unravel near the end, then recuperate. he expresses emotions not traditionally, but the way that his character would. he has nonstop drive and doesn’t once slow down to show fear, despair, nothing until he has achieved the most he could in his spot at the end.
the ending is a crashing down of ego and shielding when he finally settles down after his dreams are made, drinking in the reality he is in. he is a father now. i interpret the end as him ending the ping pong as long as he is banned from international competition. he completed the highest honor he could, he beat the most renowned player in the world. he has achieved everything, and now realizes he has a kid to take care of.
enough about timothee. the pacing is always good in a safdie production, no matter the brothers, but it shines here. it flips between plot points at a stimulating and accelerated rate.
the score for this was beyond perfect. it seems like the main safdie films, good time, uncut gems, and now marty supreme, share a theme of soundtrack. 80s retro makes so much sense for this 50s film, no matter how contradictory it seems.
marty as a character is so interesting and inspiring. there’s moments where he’s clearly in the wrong, but it still feels like you’re rooting for him all the way through. there’s also moments where i thought highly of his play, then he would lose, then when i start to doubt him, he wins again. i don’t know if it was meant to be timed that way for the audience, but it added to the experience for me.
this movie is beautiful. when i walk into something the way i walked into marty supreme, with skyrocketed expectations, im almost always disappointed. this broke that trend. i seriously love this film so much, and yes, i do think it’s the film of the year.