Joe and Anthony Russo, the director duo behind "Avengers: Endgame", have broken their silence on the Martin Scorsese-Marvel controversy, saying the legendary filmmaker doesn't own cinema.
The Russo brothers, who have worked on four Marvel Cinematic Universe movies as directors, weighed in on Scorsese's comments that superhero films were "theme park experience" and "not cinema".
"The Irishman" director said these films don't serve the purpose of cinema and were rather a theme park adventure.
Joe said they define cinema as something that brings people together for a community experience.
"Ultimately, we define cinema as a film that can bring people together to have a shared, emotional experience," the one half of the director duo told The Hollywood Reporter.
He said that they don't see the box office returns of "Endgame", the summer blockbuster that earned USD 2.78 billion globally, as a measurement of "financial success".
"When we look at the box office (of) 'Avengers: Endgame', we don't see that as a signifier of financial success, we see it as a signifier of emotional success. It's a movie that had an unprecedented impact on audiences around the world in the way that they shared that narrative and the way that they experienced it. And the emotions they felt watching it," Joe said.
Scorsese had also said that he has seen some of the MCU films and found them lacking on the "emotional and psychological experiences".
The Russos noted it was challenging to have a dialogue about cinema if Scorsese hadn't seen the films.
"But, at the end of the day, what do we know?" Joe joked.
"We're just two guys from Cleveland, Ohio, and 'cinema' is a New York word. In Cleveland, we call them movies," he said as he took a quip on Scorsese's New York roots.
Anthony added no one owned cinema, not even the illustrious filmmaker.
"The other way to think about it, too, is nobody owns cinema. We don't own cinema. You don't own cinema. Scorsese doesn't own cinema," he said.
Almost a month after sparking the debate, Scorsese, in an attempt to settle the matter, elaborated on his remarks in an October 4 op-ed of the New York Times, saying while the superhero films were made by people of considerable talent and artistry, there is an absence of "revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger" in them.
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