Marty Supreme is a film loosely based on Marty Reisman, a table tennis player. But Marty does not care about tennis. He cares about his supremacy. In this article, I will argue that Marty seeks to assert his supremacy by playing by the rules of the world, only to end up making his own rules and declaring himself the victor. The movie poses a simple question: Whose game are we playing, and who decides the victor?
I strolled into the theatre expecting a “Bobby Fischer” type story where a lone Yankee works at his craft to beat the communist juggernaut. The movie poster showcases Marty as a sportsman. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The movie begins with Marty making a shoe sale only to be interrupted by a young female customer. Marty leaves his sale mid-way and takes the young lady to the back entrance.
As they make their way through, he asks the woman to duck, symbolizing that their relationship isn’t what it seems at first glance. He is called into his uncle’s office. His uncle offers him the job of a shoe sales manager, which he declines. Marty confesses that while he is a great salesman, it is the job of a shoe salesman that is not great. This demonstrates that Marty wants to be great, not great at something. But great in life.
Then he re-confirms his deal that he will be paid by the evening as he is leaving this job to go play a table tennis tournament. Marty comes out of the office and leads the young lady to the back. There they proceed to fornicate. In particular, Marty is shown in a dominant position over the lady. This is not about the girl. It is about Marty. This is a recurring theme in the movie. Marty wants to dominate women. To Marty, they are mere things to achieve in life.
After the back office affair, Marty leaves the shoe store to inspect table tennis balls with his name on them. This is Marty seeking fame. He misses out on half a day’s work. Later in the evening, he makes his way back to the shoe store expecting his payment. It is what Marty thinks he deserves. His hard-earned right. As an excellent shoe salesman. What he finds is that his uncle has not left any money for him. So he changes the rules—justifying that he is owed this money—and steals it. Marty succeeds by changing the rules. This sequence perfectly summarizes the movie.
In London, we see Marty chatting with journalists rather than figuring out a strategy against a new threat, the Japanese player Endo Kato. Instead, he pursues a retired actress. As you might have guessed, they fornicate much to Marty’s delight. Marty loses his final match against Endo and throws a gigantic fit. The table tennis foundation fines him for billing them extraneous expenses. Back in New York, Marty finds himself chased by coppers hired by his uncle for theft, setting the main challenge in the movie: how can Marty make it to the upcoming table tennis tournament in Japan? The rest of the movie is Marty pulling out every possible trick up his sleeve to try and make it to Japan.
But if we rewind, there was no real test the world thrust upon Marty. If he had not taken an entire half-day off from the shoe store, he would have met his uncle in person and possibly gotten the money to go to London. In London, if he spent time working on table tennis against Endo Kato, he possibly could have won the finals. If he had not billed extravagant purchases to the foundation, he would not have incurred an additional fine, which later disqualified Marty from playing in the tournament in Japan. If he cared about table tennis, there would be no difficulties in getting to Japan. All the extraneous circumstances were created by Marty himself. Table tennis was never part of the story—Marty never cared about it from the beginning.
At the end of the movie, the director leaves the audience with the most perplexing ending. After being denied entry to the table tennis tournament in Japan, Marty sets up a single game with Endo. He wins the match and celebrates uproariously. He proceeds to tell Endo to win the rest of the tournament. One can view this as Marty realizing that one game of table tennis with Endo is all that mattered. Then he heads back home to the young lady (who he possibly impregnated) mentioned at the start, symbolizing that Marty has matured into a responsible adult. In the final shot, we see Marty holding (possibly) his baby and crying.
The final question remains: Did Marty win? In one interpretation, Marty won because he only cared about the one game with Endo Kato. He won because he chose to stand up for himself and demonstrate his skill. He goes back to the girl (who was also his close friend) and to his family. He won the American dream. He is crying because at the end of it all, Marty got the things he cares about most.
In another sense, Marty lost. He lost his chance at being a table tennis champion. The one game against Endo Kato is not significant since a standard match consists of many games. He was thoroughly humiliated and had to forsake his pride. He is now burdened by having to work for a household. He is in a relationship with someone who deceived him. The baby signifies that Marty will not be able to pursue his passions freely. He probably goes back to the shoe store to make ends meet. Marty goes back to what he desperately sought to escape: mediocrity.
No matter how you choose to see it, Marty Supreme is not about table tennis.
I wholeheartedly recommend this movie, much to the annoyance of my good friend.