How Josh Safdie and Darius Khondji Use Natural Lighting to Capture Real Life in Marty Supreme
In a seamless collaboration reminiscent of their work on Uncut Gems, writer-director Josh Safdie has once again teamed up with renowned cinematographer Darius Khondji for his latest project, Marty Supreme. Khondji, whom Safdie affectionately refers to as the “king of darkness,” expressed both excitement and a desire to be challenged by the film.
Before filming began, Safdie noted the significant impact of Khondji’s insights on his creative vision. “For some reason when you were reading the script, you saw top light … light from above,” Safdie recalled. “When you said that to me, it was very inspiring because this movie is like about fate and it’s like being beamed from above.”
However, the process was not without its challenges. Safdie described a particularly demanding scene involving characters Marty and Kay in a hotel room. “I wanted, for the actor’s feelings and emotions and the performance, to be able to speak with each other in real time… I wanted to shoot them both at the same time, and your face, you couldn’t believe it,” he said.
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Khondji acknowledged the difficulties but praised the outcome, stating, “Everybody was thinking the same, but this is such a beautiful thing we did. I’m so happy we did it your way. What’s happening in the scene is fantastic, and both Timothée and Gwyneth are incredible actors.”
Despite moments that required intricate lighting and careful filming, Safdie remarked that many scenes were executed rapidly. “We have so many setups in the film and we’re forced to move quite quickly, and that’s what the beauty of your lighting was because it looks like it took hours and hours and hours,” he explained. “Sometimes like the shootout, you and I were both obsessed with how do we make it feel dark?”
Khondji emphasized the nature of lighting, comparing it to sculpture. “Lighting is like a sculpture; you can try to achieve perfection forever before you need to decide what is good enough,” he remarked. “It’s never finished. I’m not interested in perfection – everything about the movie is not about perfection, it’s about life… That’s what I discovered throughout the years, and lighting is everything but perfect.”
A full discussion on this collaboration can be watched in the video above.
