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After Martin Scorsese faced backlash for describing Marvel films as “not cinema,” fellow director Francis Ford Coppola has come to his defense by offering his own take.
After being honored with the Prix Lumière on Friday in France, Coppola was quick to state that he thinks Scorsese is “right” in his stance on Marvel movies, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency and France 24.
“When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration,” said the legendary filmmaker. “I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again.”
The 80-year-old Godfather director took it further by making his own jab: “Martin was kind when he said it’s not cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.”
Coppola marks another high-profile industry figure to speak out after Scorsese’s comments prompted outcries from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, Josh Whedon, Kevin Smith and more. Despite receiving criticism, Scorsese has stood by his comments, having also compared Marvel pics to “theme park films” invading theaters.
While speaking Oct. 13 at a press conference alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino ahead of The Irishman‘s closing-night screening at the BFI London Film Festival, Scorsese reiterated his “not cinema” comment. “It’s not cinema, it’s something else,” he said. “We shouldn’t be invaded by it. We need cinemas to step up and show films that are narrative films.”
The director also said during BAFTA’s annual David Lean lecture: “Theaters have become amusement parks. That is all fine and good, but don’t invade everything else in that sense. That is fine and good for those who enjoy that type of film and, by the way, knowing what goes into them now, I admire what they do. It’s not my kind of thing, it simply is not. It’s creating another kind of audience that thinks cinema is that.”
Scorsese’s comments come after the world premiere of The Irishman, which is set to hit theaters Nov. 1 and arrive on Netflix on Nov. 27.
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