Martin Scorsese hasn’t shied away from criticism of the current era of blockbusters, but thanks to the new movie Tár the legendary director believes in cinema once again. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the very best directors of all time, and Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, and Raging Bull are all some of the best movies ever made.
Recently the director has been upfront about his views on Hollywood’s current reliance on superhero movies and other big budget blockbusters. He has said that the action movies aren’t cinema, and that they’re more like rollercoasters instead. Plenty have agreed with his statements, and plenty have disagreed.
However, it looks like Scorsese’s faith in the medium has been restored. Reported by IndieWire, Scorsese turned up at the New York Film Critics Circle awards to bestow the ‘Best Picture’ award to Todd Field’s new movie, Tár. This also gave Scorsese the chance to wax lyrical about the new drama movie and he took it, speaking about the state of cinema and the brilliance of Tár.
He said “For so long now, so many of us see films that pretty much let us know where they’re going. I mean, they take us by the hand, and even if it’s disturbing at times, sort of comfort us along the way that it will be all OK by the end. Now this is insidious,” Scorsese explained, “as one can get lulled into this, and ultimately get used to it. Leading those of us who’ve experienced cinema in the past — as much more than that— to become despairing of the future of the art form, especially for younger generations.”
The director continued “The clouds lifted when I experienced Todd’s film, Tár.’ What you’ve done, Todd, is that the very fabric of the movie you created doesn’t allow this. All the aspects of cinema and the film that you’ve used, attest to this. The shift in locations, for example, the shift in locations alone do what cinema does best, which is to reduce space and time to what they are, which is nothing.
“You make it so that we exist in her head. We experience only through her perception. The world is her. Time, chronology and space, become the music that she lives by. And we don’t know where the film’s going. We just follow the character on her strange, upsetting road to her even stranger final destination.”
That’s quite the endorsement, and echoes the sentiment of plenty of other filmmakers and critics who have been heaping praise on Tár. In fact, the psychological drama movie is expected to be a frontrunner in the upcoming awards season, with Cate Blanchett in particular looking likely to secure a nomination (and even a win) in the Best Actress category at the Oscars.
As for Martin Scorsese, 2023 will see the release of his new thriller movie Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Fraser, and Jesse Plemons.
For more on the world of cinema, check out our guides to the best science fiction movies and the best fantasy movies. Or, take a look at our rundown of the best Steven Spielberg movies.