If those viral Letterboxd interviews with actors and filmmakers are any indication, most people enjoy hearing about the movies other people love. I know I do. I enjoy hearing about the works that inspire other writers and directors, and what creative decisions, performances, and visuals in each movie speak to them as viewers. Josh and Benny Safdie, brothers who have directed projects together and now work solo, are cinephiles who often pull from deep-cut films as inspiration. Together, they directed Good Time with Robert Pattinson and Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler. More recently, Josh Safdie directed the upcoming Marty Supreme, starring and produced by Timothée Chalamet. Benny Safdie's new movie is the sports biopic The Smashing Machine, which stars Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr.They've spoken at length in various interviews about their favorite films. Here are five you should definitely check out. Bicycle Thieves (1948) A man searches Rome with his young son for the stolen bicycle he needs to keep his job in this Italian neorealist masterpiece. Vittorio De Sica directed this influential film that cast real people alongside professional actors.Josh Safdie called this "the holy grail, the ultimate filmmaking bible" in his Criterion Collection top 10 list and described it as "a north star project" over at Rotten Tomatoes. He told Criterion that "it maximizes its use of father/son dynamics and trying, real locations, all while its pure emotional current is completely understated yet very felt." Josh admired how director De Sica cast a real factory worker, Lamberto...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday