The one “perfect” movie and director Matt Damon compared to Ernest Hemmingway: “Unbelievable mastery”
If you were to believe everything you read in the papers, then your expectations of some movie stars would be way out of whack. For example, you might not expect someone like Matt Damon to have an appreciation for all aspects of cinema.
But, while he is best known as one of Hollywood’s most bankable actors, Damon has done just about everything in the world of film. Most notably, he won an Oscar as a screenwriter, along with his friend Ben Affleck, for their work on Good Will Hunting. Affleck and Damon also started a production company, LivePlanet, to help films on the other side of the camera, and he has endured some darker times too.
For a while, it seemed as though he may be perennially ensconsed in the world of action hero performing, a role which Jason Bourne judo threw him into with aplomb. Of course, within that framework, he arguably changed the genre forever, but he didn’t want to be typecast. Damon broke out and gained more roles and more variation to his resume. And he did all that because of one simple fact: he loves movies.
While being interviewed by Rotten Tomatoes in 2021, Damon was asked what every film buff wants to talk about: his favourite movies. From his picks, it wasn’t hard to see where his inspirations were found. Damon happened to pick three different movies that all-star Robert De Niro, who clearly was a major influence on Damon as an actor. One of those movies is Francis Ford Coppola’s mob classic, The Godfather, Part II.
Why did Damon decide to go with The Godfather, Part II over the first film? “Well, I’ve always said Godfather 2. I think that movie’s pretty near perfect,” Damon explained. “It’s an impossible thing to answer, your five favourite movies, but I would put that one, just for its direction, its writing, its acting, its production value. I mean, it’s really amazing.”
Don’t just take Damon’s word for it: he has some backup when it comes to highlighting the second Godfather film from one of cinema’s greatest directors. “I remember talking to Scorsese on The Departed and saying, ‘Hey, Marty: Godfather 1, or Godfather 2?’” Damon added. “And he instantly said, ‘Godfather 2‘. And I said, ‘Why?’ And he goes, ‘He had more money.’”
It wasn’t the only movie that Damon thought was perfect. After laying down his three De Niro films (Damon also highlighted Goodfellas and Midnight Run), he decided that it was time to get a bit scarier. And when you’re talking horror/suspense, you can’t avoid Steven Spielberg’s ur-text for the genre, 1975’s Jaws.
“That’s a terrifying, perfect movie. It’s simple and kind of perfect and beautiful,” Damon gushed. “It’s early Spielberg, and it just shows … I mean, I know it was a mistake that the shark wasn’t ready, but the idea of not seeing the shark is just absolutely brilliant. It tapped into the most primal and terrifying aspects of swimming in the ocean. And the acting is great. All the characters are great. And it’s almost impossible to shoot on a boat, and yet he did it with such unbelievable mastery.”
“It’s like when Hemingway writes, I always go, ‘I know all those words. I just never thought to put them in that order.’ So, there’s nothing that Steven’s doing that’s a trick,” Damon adds. “He’s got the same equipment everyone else has. He’s just better at telling a visual story.”
Spielberg is a gifted filmmaker, but he isn’t without his detractors. In fact, there’s a whole section of cinephiles who deride his blockbuster penchant as commercialised garbage. But that would be missing the point. Ever since he first arrived on the big screen, Spielberg has wanted to tell stories and connect the world with his work. Sure, sometimes that means he may play a little safer than some, but his ability to deliver universal emotion and sell it well might be a capitalist’s dream, but it’s also an authentic expression.
