Marty Supreme is one of the most offensive characters in cinema

Upcoming awards hopeful Marty Supreme is one hell of a film, but just not quite in the way I was expecting from this chaotic, white-knuckle ride of a movie.

Zooming through a matter of months in the life of aspiring ping-pong champion Marty Mauser – based loosely on US player Marty Reisman – at breakneck speed, it becomes evident pretty quickly that Marty Supreme is not at all a standard sports biopic.

It also becomes clear early on that Timothée Chalamet will be Oscar nominated for playing one of the most offensive pigs in cinema. And rightfully so.

Marty Supreme – both the film, directed and co-written by Josh Safdie, and the character as portrayed by Chalamet (this is the name emblazoned on his customised ping-pong balls) – is a force of nature. The sheer energy involved is mind-boggling.

But what cuts through any noise is just how much of a jerk Marty can be, so much so that he could end up being one of the most unlikable and offensive roles recognised by the Academy.

Now, I’m talking within the realms of day-to-day offensive behaviour as a (semi) regular person, the things he says and the way he treats people, rather than him being, for example, a Nazi – such as Ralph Fiennes’ nominated turn as Amon Göth in Schindler’s List – or a racist stereotype, or even being offensively awful as a creation like Star Wars’ Jar Jar Binks is often considered.

There’s really no other way to put it than that Marty is a massive arsehole, basically. He’s so driven in his goal to become ping-pong world champion that he won’t even consider the alternative or a back-up plan.

While you could admire him for that, it also makes him hugely unlikable, seeing the way he uses and insults people, steals from loved ones, lies constantly and several times almost gets people killed – including the woman pregnant with his child.

But the moments in the film that made me gasp with shock were the ones when he makes genuinely really offensive remarks; so while you may laugh in horror at them, you may also think it crosses a line (I’ve warned you).

For example, while speaking to a group of journalists ahead of playing a Jewish former champion (and one of his friends), Bela Kletzki, Marty declares: ‘I’m going to do to him what Auschwitz couldn’t – I’m going to finish the job.’

And to remind you, this film is set in 1952, just a few short years after the Holocaust and World War Two.

Marty insists that, as he’s Jewish, he’s allowed to say this, and Bela (Géza Röhrig) later shares a harrowing tale of his experiences in the concentration camp and how his special skill kept him alive.

Then, when Marty is discussing facing off against the current world champion, Japanese player Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), and boasting about his talents, he tells a character who has just revealed his son was killed in the Pacific during the war: ‘If it’s any consolation, I’ll be dropping a third nuclear bomb on Japan.’

However, another curious aspect of his character, which is almost endearing, is the fact that he ends several of the movie’s most dramatic confrontations with a quicky uttered ‘love you’.

I’m not convinced Marty actually knows what it feels like to love someone, but I do know that without the callous way he speaks to people or uses them, the film wouldn’t be as good.

Because Marty Supreme lacks a little in terms of a straightforward storyline or direction, it relies a lot on Chalamet’s exhaustingly good acting to propel it. Plus, you almost don’t want to look away from his abominable behaviour, because… what could possibly come next?

I also think people will secretly admire the audacity of an underdog like Marty, even if he makes quite reprehensible moves in his desperate scramble to the top.

The film’s synopsis explains that Marty ‘goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness’ which, if you remember your pop culture moments, might sound familiar. That’s because Chalamet told us all in February this year, upon accepting the SAG Award for best actor for playing Bob Dylan in A Compete Unknown, that that was his goal too.

‘The truth is, I’m in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t normally talk like, that but I want to be one of the greats, I’m inspired by the greats here tonight,’ he said, name-checking his personal inspirations like Viola Davis, Daniel Day-Lewis and Michael Jordan.

This character is another character the actor spent years preparing to play, practising on a portable table tennis table on the sets of Wonka in London and Budapest, Jordan, and Abu Dhabi while shooting Dune: Part Two, as well as taking it with him to Cannes Film Festival.

Having seen Marty Supreme, it feels like I have the full context for that awards speech moment now – and also perhaps like Chalamet was playing the long game in the promotion of his next great role… and manifesting his third best actor Oscar nomination.

Marty Supreme releases in US cinemas on Christmas Day and in UK cinemas on December 26.

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