Martin Scorsese wants you to watch Nightmare Alley. That’s part of the title of his recent commentary [1] published by the LA Times. Scorsese writes that he recently watched the film and found it very powerful, but was “distressed” by the film’s weak reception at the box office.
We should begin by acknowledging that Scorsese is correct. Guillermo Del Toro’s film deserves attention. From the opening scene Del Toro casts a spell over the audience. His attention to details, especially the reoccurring circular designs and the ever-watchful eye, ask the audience to chew on the story long after the film’s credits conclude. While I agree with Scorsese’s plea for audiences to watch Nightmare Alley, his argument for doing so is intriguing.
Scorsese assumes that the term ‘noir’ has appeared in most of the reviews of the movie, which he thinks caused audiences to be disinterested. Scorsese asserts that audiences today might expect a noir to be “pastiche,” just an imitation of a genre that has past its climax. Despite other more recent attempts at noir in movies, Scorsese argues that Nightmare Alley is thoroughly a true noir in its casting, tone, visuals, and more. The fact that the film is a well-done noir is the argument for audience’s giving the film a chance.
Basically, Scorsese assumes that audiences are disinterested in noir, which is possible but not proven. I’m not sure we can assume the average moviegoer even knew Nightmare Alley was a noir or read movie reviews of the film beyond a Rotten Tomato percentage. Is it fair to pin the disinterest on the genre of noir? If the disinterest is because of the genre noir, why then were audiences also disinterested in The Last Duel, a historical drama?
Scorsese hints at other factors potentially affecting Nightmare Alley’s reception, including the pandemic, but that can’t explain why Nightmare Alley made only $23 million at the worldwide box office when it was released the same weekend as Spider-man: No Way Home, which has earned over $1.7 billion worldwide. Are audiences disinterested in noir or is it that they seem keenly focused on only spectacle event films?
"How could Scorsese have led the wider public down their own nightmare alleys to try out and get hooked on Nightmare Alley? He should have used the temptation of another drink from the comic book tea." … Click To TweetHow could Scorsese have led the wider public down their own nightmare alleys to try out and get hooked on Nightmare Alley? He should have used the temptation of another drink from the comic book tea. The timing and box office results of Nightmare Alley and Spider-man may have contributed to Scorsese’s distress at moviegoers. It’s time to capitalize on the Scorsese versus comic book movie drama by using it to fuel discussion of a film worth discussing.
Nightmare Alley is a film that runs a con on its audience, we show up for the movie longing for the movie to show us the supernatural and superpowers, but that’s not the movie we’re going to get. The movie isn’t supernatural, but it’s about our longing for the supernatural.
As long as the general public doesn’t get too invested in desiring movies with superpowers, we can find wonder in something else. It’s okay for audiences to long for a brief, fun outing to escape the mundane world, a popcorn flick filled with spectacles. The problem emerges when we get fixated on superpowered stories so much that other stories become neglected.
In Nightmare Alley, most of the characters’ have clear motivations, at least by the end of the film. It’s the characters who seek out the mentalist that we are aware of their fixations and the lengths they will go to find answers, as well as the shallowness of the answers they will find from the mentalist. Pete warns Stanton on multiple occasions that to linger on answering any one person’s question is dangerous, it’s spooky. Don’t believe you actually have powers. Keep it simple, trick someone and move on.
For the moviegoing audience, our fixation on supernatural and superpowered stories is okay as long as it doesn’t become a fixation and linger too long. It starts to get spooky.
When we start to believe the worldview of our superpowered stories we think that our powers can save us. We don’t realize that our self-reliance has started us down a nightmare alley path towards tragedy. The pandemic has taught us that our powers have limits. If you want to see this at play in another 2021 film, see Don’t Look Up’s criticism about expecting those in power to save us, even in the face of the end of the world. [2]
"Nightmare Alley asks today’s geek culture if we were born this way or if we’ve been groomed into geeks."https://dallasflippin.com/martin-scorsese-marvels-at-nightmare-alleys-reception/ Click To TweetNightmare Alley asks today’s geek culture if we were born this way or if we’ve been groomed into geeks. Today, the general public has at least adopted comic book nerd culture for themselves. We convinced ourselves that we knew who that big purple guy was at the end of Avengers. Nine years later, we find ourselves angry when a Disney+ show doesn’t magically reveal a character to have actually been Mephisto all along. Culture has shifted us so fast. Were we always geeks? Or have we been conned into it?
If you’re interested in breaking the spell, Scorsese hopes you’ll take the time to watch Nightmare Alley. It might open your eyes.
[1] Scorsese, M. (2022, January 21). Commentary: Martin Scorsese wants you to watch ‘Nightmare Alley.’ Let him tell you why. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-01-21/martin-scorsese-nightmare-alley-guillermo-del-toro
[2] See also Don’t Look Up!