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Martin McDonagh: There's too much fun for a story like this (Topic)

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Martin McDonagh: There's too much fun for a story like this

Image Comedy drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri directed by Martin McDonagh (Lay Down in Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) tells the story of Mildred Hayes, played by the inimitable Frances McDormand. Hayes decides to set up three billboards around his city with a provocative message addressed to the local police chief (Woody Harrelson). Such a move extremely angers the violent officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), which, despite the possible catastrophic consequences, only spurs the main character.

In a recent interview, Martin McDonagh talked about how he began working on this tape 20 years ago, what he especially likes about it, why he considers Sam Rockwell his muse and much more ...

Image You made a great movie, and Frances McDormand is just there awesome. When you see this level of performance, don't you have to remind yourself that you are the director and you need to lead the actors, not just watch them?

In Francis's case, you just smile and give up. But I can say that it was a lot of fun on the set - for such a dark story, we had very funny footage.

You said that the idea of the story itself was born almost 20 years ago during one of your trips around America, when you saw a similar angry message on a billboard. Why did it take so long before the movie was released?

That message was very similar to Mildred's message, there was so much anger and pain in it, and the idea itself firmly stuck in my head, but I did not know if it would be a story or a film, and I didn’t make a movie then. I did not immediately figure out how to approach the story, until one day I realized that the author of the message is a mother, and then everything immediately fell into place. With this image of an outraged, strong woman bravely trying to change something, the story was composed by itself.

Have you ever found out what kind of incident was behind those billboards?

No, there was no Internet at that time, but I would be very interested to know.

Did you write the role of Mildred under Frances McDormand, having already received her consent to act in film or simply deciding that you would not accept her rejection?

I never tell anyone in advance that I am writing a role for him, because I do not know what will happen as a result. I had an idea of an image in my head, and I imagined Francis in this image, but I didn't say anything to her. The script was finished about eight years ago, but I just dropped it and didn't even talk to Francis until I felt confident that it was time to implement it. I didn't want to waste her time. So maybe four or five years ago, as soon as it became clear that this film would be our next project, I sent her the script and I think I just asked her to read and give her opinion. But when we met, I saw that she had fallen in love with this heroine, which I was incredibly happy about, because a refusal would have killed me. I never imagined anyone else in this role, and if someone else played it, the film would have turned out more Hollywood. And this is not at all what I would like.<
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Is Sam Rockwell your muse at the moment?

I think yes. I always imagine this actor when I make up a typical American of his age ... He can play good, bad, and something in between. This guy is not cute, but at the same time gifted and plastic. I am very glad that he finally received some kind of recognition. It’s crazy that Sam didn’t get an award for Luna 2112, Confessions of a Dangerous Man, or any other cool material he had previously given out.

Are you one of those who calculate in advance the timing of the film before shooting, so as not to shorten the footage later, or cut out unnecessary scenes later?

Naturally, I try to control the narrative so that everything fits in two hours of screen time. I already know enough about writing scripts so that there is not a lot of unnecessary left in them. But we still had to cut six or seven scenes that seemed necessary to me. Some of them were great and Sam played great, but they came out too funny, which hurt the end result. These scenes upset the balance between gloom and humor, and we didn't want to give the viewer more comedy than our tragedy allowed.

Image Everyone really likes your movies, but why are there only three ? Maybe you can shoot the next one as soon as possible? ..

Oh no, I'm too lazy for that! I like to travel and not be part of the film industry. I like to suddenly realize after finishing work that I shouldn't do this for another four years. I have one script that is ready to go and I want to write a couple more next year, so a year later I have two or three stories to choose from to move on. I don’t really like fame, so I’m quite happy that I shoot a film every four years.

Since you create your characters from scratch, you can easily try them on in advance on specific actors. Who else would you like to work with?

There are many of them, I will get tired of listing. And I don't want to offend anyone. There are many actresses that I would like to work with. But I also like the close acting company that began to take shape around me. I could happily shoot something else with Frances, Woody and Sam.

What do you like most about working with actors?

It's all about my theatrical background and the fact that I am a writer who cares about the picture. Actors usually choose their profession, dreaming of saying something to the world. It's the same with my writing. Most of the actors go on stage for this reason, and not for fame, and I feel the same as a storyteller. It's about finding like-minded people who are just great to be around. And now I feel as comfortable as possible on the set, and even as a director. In the first two films, I was a little unnerved by the lack of directing experience, I was afraid to blunder, but now everything is fine with it.

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Source: Collider

The Topic of Article: Martin McDonagh: There's too much fun for a story like this.
Author: Jake Pinkman


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