Josh Safdie, known for his intense filmmaking style, grew up honing his focus at the table tennis table with his father. On this week’s episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, the co-writer and director of “Marty supreme” discussed how that childhood experience informed his latest project.
Finding Focus in the Fast-Paced World of Table Tennis
Table of Contents
Safdie’s captivation with table tennis stems from a personal connection to the sport’s demands on concentration and precision.
- Safdie’s childhood experience with ADD led him to table tennis as a way to cultivate intense focus.
- Research into the sport’s post-WWII New York City origins revealed a vibrant, eccentric community.
- The challenge of filming table tennis lay in capturing its speed and nuance, requiring extensive preparation and visual effects.
- “Forrest Gump’s” depiction of ping-pong diplomacy served as an early inspiration for Safdie’s approach.
“I had ADD, so I played it a lot as a kid, and it takes an intense focus, and the frustration when you lose that focus is heightened, and the precision that it takes,” Safdie explained. “So I was trying to match that.”
A History Unearthed: Post-War Table Tennis in New York
Safdie’s interest deepened when he learned about the sport’s history in post-World War II New York City. Through research with his wife, producer Sara Rossein, and stories from his uncle George, who frequented Lawrence’s Table Tennis Club, he discovered a unique cast of characters drawn to the game in the 1950s. The club, lovingly recreated by production designer Jack Fisk in “Marty Supreme,” was a hub for top players like Marty Reisman, who served as the inspiration for Timothée Chalamet’s character, Marty Mauser.
Ping-pong, it turned out, attracted individuals with high IQs who often struggled in customary academic settings. This, combined with the sport’s underdog status, resonated with Safdie’s desire to tell a story about ambition and individuality. “That Marty believed it was his calling to ride the disreputable sport to fame just meant it would be an even lonelier road, lined with doubters,” he said.
The Cinematic Challenge: capturing the Speed
filming table tennis proved to be a important hurdle. Safdie recalled a conversation with VFX supervisor Eran Dinur, “And I was petrified of it as [Schaaf] told me they can only do one point at a time.”
Safdie’s solution was meticulous pre-planning, working closely with visual effects supervisor Eran Dinur, who also worked on “Uncut Gems.” cinematographer Darius Khondji employed a documentary-style,multi-camera approach,breaking from the traditional three-quarters angle of televised table tennis to capture the ball’s trajectory directly toward the camera.
Ultimately, Safdie believes he successfully “dignified the sport and wanting to capture the feeling of [playing] it.”
“Marty Supreme” is now playing nationwide.
To hear Josh Safdie’s full interview, subscribe to the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.
