Peter Gabriel has personally thanked director Josh Safdie for including his song ‘I Have The Touch’ in the new film Marty Supreme.
Safdie’s movie is released into UK cinemas on Boxing Day and stars Timothée Chalamet as the American table tennis prodigy Marty Mauser, a character loosely inspired by the real-life ping pong champion Marty Reisman.
The A24 comedy-drama has been widely critically acclaimed and co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion and Kevin O’Leary, and it despite its 1950s setting, it includes a number of anachronistic needle drops, including songs from Tears For Fears, New Order and Public Image Ltd.
Another song included is ‘I Have The Touch’, from Gabriel’s fourth solo album in 1982. The former Genesis musician wrote on his website: “I was delighted that ‘I Have The Touch’ was chosen for the soundtrack of Marty Supreme.”
“The song is rarely asked out for a dance and I have always loved table tennis,” Gabriel added. “Now there seems to be a real buzz about the film. Thank you to the director Josh Safdie!”
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Marty Supreme has earned a glowing five-star review from NME. “The direction is so frenetic that it somehow makes table tennis even more thrilling than the rubber-burning race scenes in F1, while there are at least three jaw-dropping set-pieces that Safdie lands on you like gleefully delivered trick shots,” wrote Jordan Bassett.
“This is a story about living a great life, however you may define that. It is a film about living fully and without fear, a cynicism-free zone where, for all their fast-talking, people love each other so much it makes your heart feel like it’s about to burst. Talk about a smash.”
Chalamet’s promotion campaign for the movie has been making countless headlines, including him collaborating with UK rapper EsDeeKid, and thereby quashing rumours that he was actually the real-life identity behind the anonymous musician.
As for Gabriel, his WOMAD Festival has announced a Glasgow edition for 2026, to go alongside its Wiltshire event in July.