On November 20 Directors UK members attended a special screening of 22 July, followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Paul Greengrass.
Paul spoke to director Iain Softley (Hackers, K-PAX) about his distinctive visual style, how he portrayed Anders Breivik without glamourising him, and much more. You can catch up with all our live-tweets below.
Our wonderful week of screenings continues with 22 July. Follow us for a live-tweeted Q&A with director Paul Greengrass afterwards #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
That was the incredibly powerful and moving 22 July. Our Q&A with director Paul Greengrass is about to begin. Fellow director @IainSoftley moderates #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Iain begins by asking about the source material: One of Us by Asne Seierstad #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul felt it was important to use that book as the starting point for the film, so that it was “a Norwegian film”. It is about Norway #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Iain comments that the film says so much about the current rise of the far right across Europe. Was that intentional? #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul tells us that that was the starting point. He wanted to explore that subject and the origins of that. He just needed a way into that story and 22 July terrorist attack gave him that way in #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
He’d remembered the Nazi salute Breivik gave in court and decided to read a transcript of what he’d said in court. Everything he said was beyond the pale back then but today you hear it said by mainstream politicians in the US, Europe and the UK #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Someone showed Paul the review of the film on Breitbart news - funnily enough they weren’t fans! But what was most shocking were the comments. People who share his views entirely #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
#DUKjuly pic.twitter.com/uoKfEfuiBa
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul was most struck by Geir Lippestad, Breivik’s defence lawyer. He’s an amazing person, working in such trying circumstances. Doing something he had to do but no one would want to #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
The cast was primarily made up of Norwegian theatre actors. The children were most from theatre schools #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul praises Jon Oigarden for his performance as Lippestad. He was incredibly restrained, but gave a brilliant performance #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
The film was shot on a shoestring and extremely quickly. They started filming a couple of days after selling it to Netflix and the whole thing was done within five months #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul sees this film as a companion piece to United 93. This is the world that followed the September 11th attacks #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Iain asks about Paul’s “documentary” shooting style. Paul says it’s just the way he shot things. It’s how he started out shooting documentaries for Granada, and it followed him into his dramatic work #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
He felt his style was quite old fashioned and was a bit self-conscious about it. But when making The Bourne Ultimatum, now in a world full of phone camera footage, it turned out it was actually quite a youthful aesthetic #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
But he wanted to challenge himself with 22 July. He was bored of himself and decided to move away from that handheld documentary style. Snowy Norway seemed the perfect place to find a new aesthetic! #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
22 July is available on Netflix now. Iain asks what it was like to work with them and to know that the film wouldn’t have a conventional cinema release #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul says that he’s obviously not in the camp that sees Netflix as the end of cinema. That feels like cavemen saying ‘I hope these cave painting don’t move some day’ #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
You have to accept the realities of the industry. We might wish it wasn’t so, but masses of people aren’t going to go and see art house films in the cinema. They are going to watch them on Netflix. And I want people to see this film #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Netflix were very open to having cinema screenings as well - we got the number of screens we wanted for a limited release #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
And Netflix were brilliant to work with. There was none of that managerial interference that you find everywhere else #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
The good news is that that managerial oversight and suffocation is on the out - because Netflix has led the way. Better times are ahead for directors and creatives #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Questions from the audience now #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
How difficult was it to find the right balance in regards to Breivik - showing what he did but not glorifying his actions? #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul: it was incredibly difficult and an incredibly distressing film to make. Spending time thinking about and researching this material was horrible #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
But you make sure you keep the victims and their families in mind. You speak to them, read their testimonies, and remain conscious that nothing compares to their suffering #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
You make sure you do them justice. And part of that is not creating a monster. You need clarity in an enigma #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
A lot of that comes from the performance of Anders Danielsen Lie as Breivik. He’s a huge star in Norway. He was a famous child actor as well, and it was a huge deal for him to take this role #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
He was very particular and reserved in his performance and portrayed Breivik just as he is: someone who was sure of his heinous actions #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Another question from the audience: how do bring artistic licence to a subject like this? #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Paul: you ask for permission. You speak to people who were there and ask about changing things, expecting to be knocked back #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
You also build a coalition of “stakeholders” - you’re telling several people’s stories, not just one persons. And all those people are going to have slightly different versions and takes on what happened #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
That makes for a richer, more organic story anyway. And you’ll find that those compressions come naturally #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
If you’re working closely with that coalition of people, you’ll soon know if you’ve made a big mistake. If you’re doing it properly and keep to those principles, then your version of the story will remain truthful #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
And that’s a wrap! A big thank you to Paul Greengrass for joining us, and to @IainSoftley for moderating #DUKjuly
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 20, 2018
Guests of @20CenturyFoxUK screening room tonight for the powerful 22 July, with Paul Greengrass talking representations of reality, politics, and getting theatrical with Netflix. Thanks @Directors_UK #DUKjuly pic.twitter.com/dkz9Fk8YPr
— Mike Rymer (@Mike_Rymer) November 20, 2018
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