“I have a purpose. You don’t. And if you think that’s some kind of blessing, it’s not,” Marty Mauser says in the new box office success starring Timothée Chalamet.
The A24 film “Marty Supreme,” became an immediate box office success. The film is now the studio’s highest grossing project in the U.K., bringing in $57.5 million domestically and approximately $70 million worldwide.
Although inspired by a real table tennis player (Marty Resimen) Chalamet’s portrayal of his character, Marty Mauser, takes Resimen’s ego and drive to a more intense, fictional level. The traits Chalamet demonstrates echo the toxic psyche that presents itself in today’s society as clearly as it has for years.
The eccentric character thrives on a never-ceasing motivation to be the best table tennis player in the world. While he stops at nothing to achieve his goals, going as far as stealing a dog in hopes of money for its return, he’s difficult to absolutely despise. I even rooted for him during table tennis matches despite the character hurting almost everyone who stepped foot in his life.
The film’s director, Josh Safdie, known primarily for his work on crime thriller films, has written and directed movies such as “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time,” among others. While feeling pressure from critics when working on “Uncut Gems,” Safdie read a book written by Reisman. A book which prompted him to create “Marty Supreme.” The book, Safide said, discussed outcasts who were driven by a dream and couldn’t seem to focus on anything else. Once Safdie finished “Uncut Gems,” he jumped immediately into production for “Marty Supreme.”
Safdie understood that Chalamet was the right choice for the character because of the eccentric, driven attitudes he exhibits in real life.
“He had these big eyes, and he was intense. He was very intense, and he had this supreme vision of himself. He was Timmy Supreme, and it was so obvious,” he said.
Safdie saw some of Chalamet’s previous films and was in awe of his acting abilities.
“He has a larger-than-life realism. That’s how he acts in an iconic way. And he took what could have been a small film, but his style of acting expanded it, the walls, and made it a much bigger film,” Safdie said.
In one scene, Moses, the dog Mauser takes for the money of returning it, runs away. When he tries to take the dog back, the scene ends in a shootout, and Mauser does not get Moses back. While the audience never truly discovers the dog’s fate, Safdie discussed how this storyline was an extremely intentional choice.
“We called him Moses because he is the purveyor of morals, and I do think that because on some level that dog does not know it’s in a movie, and there’s something kind of period and timeless about animals,” Safdie said.
“Marty Supreme,” while widely accepted as exceptional and insightful, also received its fair share of backlash. Critics argued that the film is simply a platform for toxic masculinity or misogyny, while others push back against this narrative by claiming the film presents social pressures in the world targeting men that often drive them to destructive behavior.
It’s difficult to understand which side of the criticism is “correct,” if that is even an applicable term in this situation, given filmmaking is an artform that is up to the interpretation of the viewer. The movie is filled with toxic characters, both men and women, but they are all flawed in their own way. Rather than being a platform for toxic masculinity, the movie presents characters that are raw, real and flawed.
However, Chalamet pushed back against toxic masculinity narratives and spoke out against the culture regarding young males today that critics argue is perpetuated by films such as Safdie’s.
“There’s no such thing as toxic masculinity – that’s the emperor of all oxymorons. There’s cruelty, criminality, bullying, predation and abuse of power. If you’re guilty of any of these things, or conflate being male with coarseness and savagery, you’re not masculine; you’re anti-masculine,” Chalamet wrote.
In the final few minutes of the film, the audience watches as Mauser is overwhelmed with a change. He decides to fly back to the United States after competing and winning against his table tennis rival, Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), after learning he was ineligible to compete in the world championship. When he returns, Mauser rushes to the hospital where Mizler is giving birth.
The final scene of the film captures an emotional moment where Mauser sees his child for the first time. As tears flow down Chalamet’s face and Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” plays, the audience learns that Mauser has shifted. He is no longer the narcissist he was for the majority of the film.
“When I had my first daughter, you don’t know what you’re going to feel, so when I looked into her eyes, I got lost in the infinite time loop. I just saw an everlasting future and there was something incredibly humbling about it, intensely humbling in a way that made me feel it was cosmic. It made me feel connected to the beginning and end of time,” Safdie said, describing his interpretation of the final scene.
In the end, Marty Mauser’s table tennis dreams die, but a new life blooms in its place. Mauser has found new life in love, and this is the “supreme” desire.
