The director Josh Safdie called “a God”
Modern cinema has long been criticised for lacking vim, vigour and genuine artistic craft. But, if any filmmakers are dedicated to bringing this quality back to the fold, it’s the Safdie brothers, a pair of formidable talents who, together with the likes of Ari Aster, Robert Eggers and Jennifer Kent, are changing the face of contemporary cinema as we know it, thanks to several marvellous cinematic visions.
First emerging in the early 2000s, Benny and Josh Safdie paved their way with a multitude of successful short films before they set out to make their feature debut, Daddy Longlegs, in 2009. Receiving several awards and nominations, including a nod at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie demonstrated the promise in the Safdie’s, prompting them to make a trio of low-budget feature follow-ups, including Buttons, Lenny Cooke, and Heaven Knows What.
It was following this trio of films that the pair would begin to gain some serious traction, helming Good Time in 2017, a heist drama starring Robert Pattinson, before Uncut Gems, released two years later, would earn them global acclaim. Becoming known for their DIY filmmaking style and intense narratives, both Josh and Benny Safie have since found great success.
Part of their contemporary potency has come as a result of their knowledge of cinema history, with both brothers speaking to the BFI about their favourite movies and filmmakers of all time.
Stepping up to the plate, Josh started exclaiming his love for the 1934 Jean Vigo film L’Atalante. “That underwater scene where Jean opens his eyes underwater in a despondent cleansing,” he started, picking a particular moment which he loved, “a scene that’s been homaged a million times ([The Graduate being the most obvious to me), carries me through most days. Jean Vigo is a god. He was the son of an outlaw. Also this was an introduction to Michel Simon for me. Emotional, Sloppy, Manic, Cinema”.
A romantic comedy, but not of the contemporary kind, L’Atalante stars Jean Dasté and Dita Parlo as a newly married couple who struggle through marriage aboard a troubled ship.
Elsewhere, Josh’s brother Benny picks out the 1956 Robert Bresson movie A Man Escaped, exclaiming: “Not quite sure what to say about this movie other than it’s one of the top five movies ever made. When they touch the ground at the end, I feel like I’ve been escaping with them. Never has a movie that gives away it’s ending in the title been more suspenseful. The spoon slot, the little broom, the handkerchief pulley system… Like Fontaine, Bresson is the master”.
Take a look at the trailer for L’Atalante, the movie Josh Safdie calls a classic, below.
