‘Barbenheimer’ gave Martin Scorsese hope for “different cinema”: “I think that’s wonderful”
Although he hasn’t personally seen either of the two films, director Martin Scorsese has revealed that he’s been celebrating the theatre phenomenon dubbed ‘Barbenheimer’, which involved Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie seeing a same-day release.
With Barbie breaking records as the first movie by a female director to surpass $1 billion at the box office and Oppenheimer close behind, earning over $900million, it’s been widely seen as a much-needed revival of artistic films getting the big-screen treatment, following a massive slump in cinema attendance in part exacerbated by the pandemic.
During a recent interview for the Hindustan Times to promote his upcoming movie Killers of the Flower Moon, which Far Out‘s own Thomas Leatham described as “utterly captivating”, Scorsese praised the cultural impact of Barbenheimer. “I do think that the combination of ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ was something special,” the director stated, adding, “It seemed to be, I hate that word, but the perfect storm.”
“It came about at the right time,” Scorsese continued. “And the most important thing is that people went to watch these in a theatre. And I think that’s wonderful.” Whilst Barbie was expected to be a huge hit in theatres thanks to its recognised brand and a marketing budget of $150m, Nolan’s latest film has set a precedent as a three-hour-long R-rated movie to make nearly a billion.
Contrasting Oppenheimer with Barbie, which was shot by Killers of the Flower Moon cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, Scorsese said, “The way it fit perfectly — a film with such entertainment value, purely with the bright colours — and a film with such severity and strength, and pretty much about the danger of the end to our civilisation — you couldn’t have more opposite films to work together.”
The director shared his optimism on the future of cinema, explaining, “It does offer some hope for a different cinema to emerge, different from what’s been happening in the last 20 years, aside from the great work being done in independent cinema.”
Touching upon the state of independent cinema, Scorsese shared, “I always get upset by that, the independent films being relegated to ‘indies.’ Films that only a certain kind of people would like. Just show them on a tiny screen somewhere.”
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