“That doesn’t even enter my consciousness” – Marty Mauser
For director Josh Safdie (class ’84), “Marty Supreme” marks a double debut: first feature film without his brother Benny and his first period drama (if we do not consider “Uncut Gems” as ancient history: RIP iPhone 4s).
“Who is the reason for your arrival?” asked the movie guy.
“Hollywood golden boy,” I replied.
“Who, Butler, Elordi…?”
“Chalamet!!” (I should have expected the confusion – that one’s on me).
I mean who could blame me? The marketing budget for this movie could only compete with Barbie’s “Pink World”, and win by a lot.
From the big orange blimp floating across America’s skies, to the genius (and viral) A24 “marketing team meeting,” to the “Marty Supreme” jacket that had everyone talking (but not many wearing it), to finally the conquest of the Las Vegas Sphere…
This feature film was Chalamet’s most ambitious project – and the Academy noticed it, took note, and replied with 9 nominations (including Best Picture and Best Actor).
Chalamet’s dedication to this project was so obsessive and ambitious, that only Marty Supreme himself could compete.
Marty is a 23-year-old New Yorker with a passion for ping pong that knows (literally) no limits.
On paper, this premise doesn’t tell much. For a basketball and F1 enthusiast like me, there was nothing appealing (let alone cinematic) about table tennis. And honestly until 6:49 PM on Saturday evening I was ready to witness “Challengers (A24 Version)” – but… as has happened in many times in my life, I was wrong. This time, very wrong.
The movie takes place in a New York of the early 50s – and this you cannot doubt, not even for a second.
In fact, the obsession I mentioned didn’t live only in Marty’s character, but it defined the entire ensemble behind the scenes. To name one, the Production Designer Jack Fisk revealed that in order to make a bowling scene credible (by his standards), he altered the pin-setting mechanism just because that specific technology hadn’t yet been invented at the time in which the movie is set.
Now, I don’t specifically recall a close-up of the change of the pins, but since this is a TABLE TENNIS MOVIE, from my seat, that was the least of my worries.
That is because Marty had me watching in pure pain and concern, fearing for his next move.
I was so anxious, that looking at my phone to check the time felt somewhat… wrong.
Wait… a Gen Z girl not looking at her phone for 2h 29m straight?? Is this the end for short attention span? I mean this is just…!!
I lied, I checked the time three times.
I’m sorry.
No but seriously, I felt like the real tennis table match was being played between Josh Safdie and us, the audience: one plot twist followed two others, then another one, and then three more. So in the end, the only thing he got me caring about for the entirety of the movie was the (dis)adventures of young Mauser.
No I lied, again (maybe I should see somebody for this lying thing – it’s becoming a problem). For about 0.02 milliseconds my mind focused on Timothée’s face.
And not (just) because he is really the Hollywood golden boy . It’s because the make-up team achieved the impossible: make Chalamet less gracious.
Apparently the recipe for the perfect Marty Mauser required: 5 face prosthetics, +10 contact lenses and -10 prescription glasses.
(Tip to Timothée: please get your eyes checked regularly. Sincerely, your close friend Irene).
But it wasn’t the glasses that distracted me from Mauser’s chronicles; in fact it was because of those acne scars and little marks on his face. And I know that Gwyneth Paltrow (who plays Kay Stone – a once famous movie star) agrees with me. In fact one day on set she even recommended him some creams for those “acne scars.”
And amongst those there was a small scratch that caught my attention: how did that come about? A cat attacked him after sensing his sinister aura? A little fight with a neighborhood kid?…
I have no clue, but what I do know is that Marty was already making me worried enough.
And the perfect look of your (not so) friendly neighborhood Marty wasn’t completed without an ad hoc posture which was nothing but casual. Timothée perfected his mannerisms step-by-step, literally. The result was a walk loaded with such fierceness that even Scorsese’s toughest gangsters would have feared him.
But I cannot close my computer without talking about my favourite part of movies: the poster. I have to confess something real quick about this: I grew up near a movie poster exposition and I don’t recall a time when I didn’t even get a glance at them. Whether it was the latest sci-fi feature film or the new Smurfs movie (peak cinematic experience), they followed my growth, and I remained a forever fan.
Now I no longer live by those streets, but movie posters keep talking to me, and this one felt like it was screaming in my direction.
I suggest you go look at it, that way you can see Marty Mauser running from something, but he doesn’t look back. He is headed to a specific destination, but he doesn’t know that yet; he is hoping to find it along the way.
And that got me thinking: why did they choose this shot? I mean this is a movie about table tennis, I wanna see the orange table tennis balls signed “Marty Supreme”!
But I guess that they chose this because Marty here is acting like he is hoping that whatever is chasing him, as soon as he achieves his dream, will fade away. And once that is achieved, his dream will protect him, shielding him from the outside world. Only if he understood that the biggest threat was living inside him.
What I realized as I was leaving my seat, was that Marty’s dream was his only way out from everyone, except himself.
But I bet he already knows that.
The Long Shot 
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