Benny Safdie, one half of an acclaimed directing duo with his brother Josh, joins us to talk about his latest solo project The Smashing Machine. We talk about his early short films and why he loves elevator scenes, Heaven Can Wait and the difficulty of staging something to seem wrong, Good Time with Robert Pattinson and more.

Director Benny Safdie shares insights into some of his favorite shots from his filmmaking career, starting with his early short films and moving through to his work on major features. He discusses the importance of capturing authentic emotional moments, often drawing inspiration from classic films and personal experiences.

Safdie highlights the creative freedom found in short films, the technical and emotional challenges of choreographing complex scenes, and the value of experimenting with camera techniques. He also reflects on specific scenes from his films, such as the intense hospital opening and the emotional impact of long, uninterrupted takes, demonstrating his commitment to storytelling through visual language.

Director Benny Safdie on his favorite shots

I'm sorry, Gary Guzman's thinking about being in that moment. And then, of course, it's edited to f***ing high hell. Sorry, I don't know if I can curse, but it was edited to high hell. The first one, I would say, is Acquaintances of a Lonely John. It was my final film in college. And specifically, there is a shot in an elevator. And I remember I took a class with a professor, Ray Kearney, and we were watching a Bresson movie. It's called La Dame de Bois de Bologna. And it was like one of his first ones. So he was finding his like his methodology in the in the movie. And she's on this, I guess she's on a date and it doesn't go quite what she planned. And she gets in an elevator and it goes up with her. And I remember being like, why did this happen? And, you know, I was just like, why? Why is he showing this moment, you know? And so when I made my first short film, I thought, OK, I'm going to explore with that like in-between moment what that feels like. And I get in the elevator after a kind of I'm trying to be friends with my neighbor and he kind of just blows me off. And I had to take the elevator down by myself. And you just take the ride with me. And I thought that was nice. But that's the goal is you want the camera to be tied to what the person's feeling, you know, in some way. And like there's another one, John's Gone, which is another short film where it was a go, let's let's try out Steadicam. And it was like the worst Steadicam you could possibly think of. But like I'm walking down the middle of Queens Boulevard with eating Chinese food. And this music by Paul Brimstead is just like, oh, I'm like, it's like intense. And it's just like and I'm shoving this like scallion pancake in. And and then the title card comes up. I love that. So short films, I think you the way that I would approach them is like you're still telling the story and you're trying out new things and and you get to experiment with without a net, you know, because there's there's less pressure, there's less kind of stuff that is riding on it. And so you can do things that work. Maybe they don't. Maybe they do. And then you're like, oh, I like this and maybe I could use that somewhere else. So it's kind of like it's a good way to explore new ideas. You know, like, let's see what really long lenses look like. You know, it's just it's fun. And because you really are just getting a bunch of people together to try and make something happen. And then you want then for me, I just want to take that energy and do it on the biggest scale, you know? It's got to be that opening. You know, it was just difficult to choreograph. We knew that it had to put you in a specific mindset right away. It's in the hospital with the music. When you have a shot like that, you know, you don't want it to feel like it was choreographed and you wanted it to kind of feel like there was stuff in the way. So to kind of get people coming in at the wrong moment or get people coming in and like just there was a lot of thought put into that where this could happen. And and there's also no sound, which I think was really interesting. And and just kind of moving through that that environment, trying to create a feeling, you know, and using the camera and the blocking to create a feeling. It's that's an intense movie, you know, and and and it talks and deals with a lot of stuff. And for me, I just I really didn't. Didn't want to romanticize that world because it's taken so many lives, you know, that in particular was a way of just kind of showing that feeling, you know, of kind of and it's yes, it's intense. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's got to be across the room at the very end, just because for me, that was something that was really emotional. You know, the the teacher was was somebody who was a teacher for people with those disabilities. She had a game that she played with them, and it was this thing cross to the with you feel this cross and feel that. And we just told her a little bit about what it was that had happened to me. And she did the questions, you know, for me, I didn't know what she was going to say. And so I was in the room just as one of these members of this class. And I had my own direction, which is I'm not going to do anything. She says it's all my business. She doesn't need to know she's a stranger. So she tells you to ask me a question. I'm not going to cross the room. I'm going to stand in my spot. I'm not going to do anything. Now, you choose whether or not you want to cross. You don't have to. It could be your secret. She asked a question about, like, do you if you like candy cross the room? And I'm like, it's none of her business if I like candy or not. That's what Gary Guzman's thinking about being in that moment. And in that moment, I was just not crossing the room. I was not participating. And she asked me, have you ever been blamed for something that you didn't do? Which is the whole movie. And it just kind of like clicked. And I started crossing the room. And I'm like, what are you doing? You're not supposed to cross the room. And I did it. And I crossed the room. And then I realized, oh, I'm she got me. She engaged me. She broke through. Sure. Cross the room if you've ever been blamed for something that you didn't do. Oh, plenty of time, plenty of time. Uncut gems. OK, there's there's so many. You know what it was, it was OK. I'm going to say it was the when when Garnett gets stuck in the booth, because that was one where we got on set and we had just the most insane shot list ever. And it was just like, let's just try to do it in one. Let's just try. We've got the office. Everything is there. Let's just go for it and try it. Maceo Bishop was the camera operator on that. Darius was the cinematographer. But I remember some Maceo was the steadicam operator. So he was there and I was running boom on that shot. And it was the most chaotic thing I've ever experienced because we are flying in now back the room, this thing down. Catch that. Everything had to be perfect. And then, of course, it's edited to high hell. Sorry, I don't know if I can curse, but it was edited to high hell. But it it started out of let's try and get it in one. And we just kept it was a way of like discovering things as it happened. And I remember just being connected to the hit with Maceo and I'm holding trying to get everything with him. And it was such an athletic experience. And I just loved it. You know, it was really just special, like getting back at the right moment. And then going back and thinking like, oh, what do we want to do on this one to get this shot? And like it was just it was it was an amazing learning experience. Also, because everything just folded into that moment. How do you capture this energy? You know, Jeff. God damn it. Yeah, I got it. Sorry, I'm going to sit over there. I'm sorry. Once we got it, then it was like, OK, well, what are the things that we need to just really hammer and hole the chisel? This this like you kind of break down what it is like, because like being an editor, you can kind of look at the scene and think, OK, what am I missing here? You know, so at any moment, if there's a dead spot in that long shot, we could just cut to the buzzer. Slitting that just like that. Yeah. Band-Aids, I call them. OK, this has to be when he gets out of the ring and he walks to the elevator, he gets in the elevator, he goes upstairs. So in our camera test, Glenn Kaplan, the first AC, he comes to Maseo and he's like, I found this lens because we shot this on 60 millimeter, partly because it's so small. You got long takes and you can move in a way. That's what Maseo was saying. And it's like this is something ergonomic about the 16 millimeter camera that allows you to just kind of flow with people. But Glenn, he comes, he finds this uncoated lens. And it's this like it's this crazy looking lens. And we did our test on it. And the lights just went everywhere. And immediately I'm like, oh, that's a knockout. Like literally, visually and emotionally. And so we saved that lens. We only use it once in the whole movie. And it's that moment when he gets out of the ring and it's just the camera pans up with him as he's coming out and the lights are flaring everywhere, literally like his head. And we just follow him from the ring out past dawn, out the door, into the hallway, just to let everybody like. It's also another way to say, like, this really happened. You know, we're there. We're seeing from the moment he's talking to the guy to the moment he's walking out of the ring. We're with him. And then we're in the elevator with him and we see his back. And Dwayne is acting with the muscle twitches of his back. This is truly shocking. I remember what he's like, you're just on my back the whole time. I said, yeah, and we can see everything you're feeling. And we're we're right there with you. We don't need to see your face. We know what it's like, you know. And that came from I read this essay by Gay Talese about with Floyd Patterson. And after he lost to Sonny Liston, he said. The worst thing in the world was the walk back from the ring to your locker room. He said, you just wish there was a trap door in the middle of the ring that just teleported you to the locker room. And I thought, well, I got to show that walk, you know. There's it's Frank Capra. It's a wonderful life. It's the shot where and I sent this to DJ early on saying this is Mark Kerr. It's a shot where he just finds out the news. He's like his brother's coming home from the war. His brother's going to take over the business as his brother gets off. Somebody says, hey, did you hear the good news? He got this great job in New York and George Bailey recognizes. I'm going to have to stay. You just see this look on Jimmy Stewart's face where he's devastated and in one shot, one pan, you pan with him as he walks back to the group. And in that pan, he shifts from complete devastation and sadness to big smile for his brother. I'm not going to let him feel bad on this day. And he hides his own emotions for the benefit of others. And I was like, and it's in one take. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And I'm not going to let him feel bad on this day. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

A jury has convicted Ryan Routh of attempting to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump on his Florida golf course last year. He was found guilty of all five charges, which included attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate and assaulting a federal officer.

West Palm Beach

Ryan Routh found guilty of trying to assassinate Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (September 23) spoke with reporters while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

New York

Trump takes questions during meeting with Zelenskyy

Chipmaker Nvidia said it would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, as part of a strategic partnership. CBS MoneyWatch correspondent Kelly O'Grady has more details.

Santa Clara

Rise of AI

Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI

For the first time in more than half a century, astronauts will soon be heading back to the moon. CBC's Nicole Mortillaro breaks down the preparations for the mission, Artemis II, which will send astronauts on a historic loop around the moon.

Houston

NASA prepares to send astronauts around the moon

U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, where he pushed back on countries that have formally recognized a Palestinian state. Trump also touted U.S. immigration policy.

Trump delivers address at U.N. General Assembly

Southern China and Hong Kong are bracing for Super Typhoon Ragasa as authorities evacuate hundreds of thousands of people. CBS News' Anna Coren has more details.

Hong Kong Island

Super Typhoon Ragasa targets Southern China, Hong Kong

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to voluntarily maintain the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set in the 2010 New START accord after it expires in February if the U.S. agreed to do the same.

Moscow

Putin offers Trump one-year extension to nuclear weapons treaty

President Trump announced Monday the FDA believes pregnant women should not take acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, claiming there could be a link between the medication and autism, despite objections from medical experts.

Washington

Trump, FDA tell pregnant women not to take Tylenol

ABC announced Monday that "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will return to the air Tuesday night (September 23). The network pulled the show last week following a remark from Kimmel about the death of Charlie Kirk.

Los Angeles

Jimmy Kimmel returning to air

As leaders from around the globe come together at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine continue to rage.

World leaders come together at UNGA as global tensions rise

Monday marks the second day of strike action after a similar walk-off was called on Sunday by the southern European country's largest trade union, the Italian Confederation of Labour (CGIL).

Rome

Middle East Conflict

Thousands strike across Italy in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

The Trump administration is adding $100,000 to the existing fee for H-1B visa applications, taking aim at a program that is used to attract highly skilled workers to the U.S.

Trump administration to add $100,000 fee for H-1B visas

President Donald Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi in a social media post to move forward with cases against several people connected to the U.S. government. CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane has more.

Trump urges Pam Bondi to go after his political foes

Russia is denying that its planes entered Estonian airspace on Saturday, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, but Estonia's foreign minister is saying the government has "irrefutable evidence" of the incursion.

Ukraine Invasion

Russia denies violating Estonian airspace

U.S. President Donald Trump was the final speaker at a politically charged memorial service for conservative activist and MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk that also included words of forgiveness from Kirk’s widow as well as remarks from the vice-president and one of Trump’s sons.

Glendale

Trump closes out Charlie Kirk memorial

Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and business leaders Larry Ellison and Michael Dell would be involved as U.S. investors in a proposed deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States, according to President Donald Trump speaking to Fox News channel.

Trump says Murdochs would be involved in TikTok deal

Portugal, the UK, Australia and Canada joined over 150 countries that now recognise a Palestinian state. The announcements come ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in the week ahead.

Lisbon

Portugal formally recognises Palestinian state

Police say a 23-year-old was arrested and charged Sunday night with second-degree murder after one person was killed and several others were injured in a shooting at a New Hampshire country club. Witnesses say the shooter said “free Palestine” and before opening fire.

Nashua

Suspect yelled 'free Palestine' before country club shooting

President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department go after his political rivals following a shakeup in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Virginia. Willie James Inman reports.

Trump pressuring Justice Department to pursue his political foes

President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several others remembered Charlie Kirk at a memorial service in Arizona that was attended by thousands.

Phoenix

Trump, others remember Charlie Kirk at memorial service

The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia officially recognized Palestine as a state Sunday, a move that has long been opposed by the U.S. and Israel. More countries are expected to do the same this week as world leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel continuing assault on Gaza after countries recognize Palestinian statehood

A group of US Republicans has sent a letter to France, Canada, the UK and Australia, urging them to re-consider their decision to recognise a Palestinian state.  It's warning there may be consequences if the countries move ahead with plan at the upcoming UN General Assembly.

US Republicans warn allies over decision to recognise Palestinian state

Britain, Canada and Australia all recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday (September 21) in a move borne out of frustration over the Gaza war and intended to promote a two-state solution, but which is also bound to anger Israel and its main ally, the U.S.

Britain, Canada and Australia all recognize Palestinian state

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will address the UN on Monday, after the General Assembly voted to allow him to join remotely. The U.S. has refused to issue him a visa to attend in person.

UN approves video address by Palestine’s Abbas after U.S. visa refusal

Sixty nations have agreed to a new treaty aimed at protecting marine biodiversity in international waters. But the strength of the deal governing the high seas is uncertain as some of the world’s biggest players - including China, the U.S., Russia and Japan - have yet to ratify.

Nations ratify world's first treaty to protect international waters

A cyberattack on a provider of check-in and boarding systems has disrupted operations at several major European airports including London's Heathrow, the continent's busiest, causing flight delays and cancellations on Saturday (September 20).

London

Travelers stranded as cyberattack disrupts major European airports

The high seas will soon have their own Conference of the Parties (COP). This new body will oversee the implementation of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, which is scheduled to enter into force in early 2026 after the legally required 120-day period.

Manhattan

Optus, Australia's second-largest telecom carrier, promised on Saturday "full cooperation" with official investigators, after an outage disrupted emergency call services for 13 hours. Four people died amid the technical failure, including an eight-week-old boy.

Melbourne

Telco vows to cooperate after deadly outage

Dozens more Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive. Amid mounting international criticism of Israel, there has been a renewed push for a two-state solution, with Portugal being the latest advocate.

Two-state solution gains support as IDF moves on Gaza City

Charlie Kirk will be mourned in a massive public memorial in Phoenix, Ariz., on Sunday. With U.S. President Donald Trump and other top U.S. officials attending, the event is expected to bring significant security concerns.

Breakdown