What Is Cinema ?
A couple weeks back Martin Scorsese went on a crusade bashing Marvel films, claiming its not cinema. Besides from his perspective of cinema, lets define it as a whole.
Obviously it's filmmaking, or a filmmaker creating the illusion of a moving image projecting on the screen, but influence the audience with a great story.
The craft of storytelling is cinema, and it's what filmmakers like Christopher Nolan & Quentin Tarantino has mastered, and influenced the modern film industry, which Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola has failed to do.
Let's Explain
Martin Scorsese is a niche filmmaker who sticks with crime genres, though are classics to be remembered. Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Casino, and many more ! However Cinema is not all gangster films ! You look at unique auteur filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, he leveraged his unique style of storytelling and filmmaking into different genres with different techniques of filmmaking.
Reservoir Dogs(Crime Thriller/heist film) with late 80s Hong Kong filmmaking techniques.
Pulp Fiction(Non-linear, dark comedy, crime thriller) Masterpiece, and the most quoted film to date, applied to French New Wave filmmaking technique.
Not sure if Martin Scorsese films are highly quoted as one Tarantino films. Tarantino films has stood the test of time as Scorsese has not. Two of Scorsese films had to relevant again only to be referenced as an influence on a "Comic Book" film, Joker, which is my favorite film of this year, and has a lot to say. More on Joker on my next post, but Joker is Cinema.
Oh and another thing, remembered that I said storytelling is part of cinema, well it's the king of cinema. The story of the film comes from a script, how many scripts has Scorsese written from his body of work ? Where Tarantino wrote 100% of his work, you can even tell True Romance is a Tarantino film, and it's his script directed by Tony Scott.
So with all do respect to Martin Scorsese, but he has at the most 20 or 25% of writing credits, and I've done my research.
7 writing credits out of 26 films that he directed.
There are many different forms of Cinema, though I'll understand if Scorsese complained about the spectical of marvel movies, and too much CGI, ect. I'll understand that, plus he planned to release The Irishman around May. But the distribution chain didn't accept his film, because it wouldn't bring profit during the season of superhero films, Disney live action remakes, and big action specticals.
Big action specticals like Hobbs and Shaw
are escapism movies. "Theme park" movies.
Though Marvel films (75% of Marvel films) has great stories, character and theme driven stories with the service of great entertainment.
The Conclusion
The Conclusion leaves to the audiences, the viewers, and movie goers, because they're the ones who gets to define what is Cinema, and what is not.
I agree with this article
Though I think auteur filmmakers should get the recognition, and be supported. Young and up and coming auteurs such as Ryan Coogler. Creed and Fruitville Station was well done, but more so well told, spreading awareness of social injustice. I appreciate marevl movies, I think some of them are passable, but they shouldn't be the big draw to bring audience to the theater. To actually bring cinema back, with an original film with amazing storytelling and unique style of filmmaking, it all goes to the marketing campaign.
Advertising and digital marketing should be focused more to put your film out there and create a huge buzz. Studios lack this aspect that's why they choose to release mindless action specticals like Hobbs and Shaw, whuch is one of the most outrageous movie I've ever saw. With a movie like that you got to check your brain at the door. I would've been more supportive of Scorsese and Coppola's claims if it was aimed towards franchises and franchise movies (NOT FILMS) like the fast and furious, XXX Xander Cage, fits in the same theme park with Hobbs & Shaw.
I think in this day and age, The film industry as a whole is fractured, thanks to Disney. I see what the company is doing, and they're establishing a monopoly, that way auteur filmmakers don't get the chance that they deserve. That why you got streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu (which is owned by Disney), Amazon prime, ect are redefining cinema, and showcasing up and coming auteurs. The theater and distribution chain are still competing with streaming services. Not to mention 'The Irishman' is under the Netflix umbrella.