I finally watched Marty Supreme. It's really good, actually.

Guys, I am so shook. Marty Supreme may be one of the top-ranked now, for me, in the Best Picture category, and I simply did not see this coming.

With this film, at least upon my analysis, Josh Safdie has very clearly crafted a scathing, detailed analysis of how American exceptionalism and ambition in a post-World War Two world operate. Without getting too deep into the weeds of colonialism, it's use of Jewish community as a shorthand, partnered with Marty's singular focus, comfort with deception, and wicked lack of decorum in the face of loss, was a fantastic and very intelligent use of metaphor for the wider American operative force during the mid-century.

America refuses to lose. America refuses to be humiliated. Around the time Marty Supreme is set, the United States was embroiled in the Korean War – a soviet proxy war the US got involved with. This was the first major battle loss, or "armistice" for the United States on the world stage since its lauded and loud "win" in World War II. 

Notice how the film alludes to this – "I thought you were liberated by the Soviets". I cannot believe that these parallels are coincidental – and if they are, Safdie has stumbled into a massive, genuinely colossal goldmine of metaphorical political analysis. If you've already seen the film and did not pick up this context and critique of "The American Way", I encourage you to pick up a rewatch.

The film is all things it should be to win gold - well-paced, with fantastic performances, and story-wise, airtight. It's oddysey-like nature, that bends Marty further and further from his goal in a series of unfortunate events – both his own doing and entirely outside of his control – never frustrated me once, as Safdie brother films are wont to do. Instead, it reinforced itself upon it's own metaphor – the lengths Marty will go to for his own self-image, the strength and force and scheming, the deals he goes back on, his disregard for others and how that bites him back in the ass – these aren't just Marty Problems –  this is the story of the last Century of American history.

I loved the choice to use 80s-sounding music on a 50s film that clearly had one foot glued in the 30's (Vampirism, Cycles, time loops OH MY), and its echoing effects – even the main "love interest" for Marty, Kay Stone, is literally a blonde bombshell from the War Era of media. This film oozes latent nostalgia from every angle and reveals the scars and stripes America clings to, even to this day.

America has been getting its ass paddled by Kevin O'Leary-type vampires since time immemorial – the last noble win they ever truly had, they shared with "the Reds". They must get an aesthetic victory at the cost of the sovereign pride of any other nation – they must humiliate anyone, however sympathetic, who ever bests them, even once. America is the forever underdog, no matter how dastardly they act, and anyone who dares beat them will be bested at any cost.

Me? Loving a Safdie film? That pig is about to fly.