InThe Wall,Doug Liman does something rare among established directors: he goes right back to basics.
Shot for just $3m,The Wallis a lean, taut thriller set during the second Iraq war.
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I loved the script, and different scripts require different sized productions.
So I never really left the mindset of making small movies even when Im doing a bigger budget movie.
Im interested in the kind of character work that is more in independent movies.
Im interested in the kind of anti-establishment ethos that goes with making an independent movie.
I like to bring that to studio films usually to the consternation of the studios.
I had the camera on my shoulder.
The opening ofEdge Of Tomorrowmay be the most independent thing Ive ever done.
I filmed Tom Cruise in my editing room, and he did his own hair and makeup.
So Ive never been far from making an independent movie.
Theres no help coming, theres no cavalry, and theres no cutting away to somewhere else.
The soldiers are trapped there and youre trapped with them.
Ive always been interested in giving the audience a first-person experience in my movies.
Where youre trapped behind the wall with Aaron Taylor-Johnson for better or worse youre trapped there with him.
I make unconventional superhero films.
Jason Bourne is a version of a superhero.
And the weapons are so ridiculously powerful.
You dont have to exaggerate any of it.
And also, worlds Im interested in.
Because I dont like movies like that I like movies where you change location.
To do something that by definition needs to be claustrophobic.
Theres no help coming for these soldiers.
Its tackling something in the Iraq war without talking about the war itself.
When youre in the trenches, you dont have that luxury.
And if youre in the trenches, the other guys the villain.
Because hes trying to kill you.
Theres no other way to look at it.
How has your approach to filmmaking evolved since Bourne?
Um… [a long pause] Uh.
I dont know if its changed, because Im still drawn to characters on adventures.
Like, thats an itch Im still trying to scratch.
Favreau going on an adventure to Vegas inSwingers; Jason Bournes adventure across Europe.
And, do adventures still exist?
Have we so tamed our world that the adventures gone?
I keep finding ways where its alive and well here and alive and well there.
you could still find adventure.
EvenEdge Of Tomorrowhas a sense of realism, like on the beach with your big fight in the sand.
It feels like an element of realisms always something youre looking for in your movies.
Yeah, because Im interested in characters.
No matter how extraordinary the situation, Im really interested in how people act when put into extreme situations.
Its a movie that capitalises on the entertainment value of war, but by no means glamourises it.
No, and it makes guns frightening in a way that films often fail to do.
Do you think youve improved at playing the Hollywood game?
Working with studios and producers?
Um, a little better.
Im a little less combative, but the day Im not seen as combative at all would worry me.
Because it is a business and it is a system, and it doesnt always encourage originality.
Why dont you let someone else point that out.
It doesnt always have to be you.
So that was probably the one thing Ive learned.
To have a little bit of patience, because movies are my life.
Whatever happens to me is irrelevant.
The thing Im terrified of is making a bad movie.
I get equally terrified when Im making a commercial that it wont be good.
If Im making something, my heart and soul goes in it.
That was the set I was most happy on, because I could deal with the fear of drowning.
So the fear of creative failure is worse…
…worse than anything.
When I finishedBourne Identity,the studio hated it before it came out.
They said it doesnt look like other movies; theres no one who knows anything.
They wrote it off.
They were like, this is a huge disaster.
They stopped advertising it.
They were running away from me.
It just goes to show, given the success of the movie the fans loved it.
Even when the movies done, the studio doesnt necessarily know whether its succeeded or not.
Lets face it, you changed the Bond franchise in a way.
You know, that was the most surreal thing.
I always wanted to make a James Bond movie my whole life.
I didnt grow up like Quentin Tarantino, watching esoteric art films at the video store.
I felt so insecure while I was makingThe Bourne Identitythat I was making a poor mans spy movie.
So given the emotional insecurity I bring to my craft, that was really surreal.
What do you think more generally about the state of big Hollywood movies?
You said that you grew up watching mainstream films, what films have impressed you lately?
I think therell be a half-dozen decent films thatll come out this summer, and thats pretty good.
Theyre kind of almost expendable in a way.
But luckily, whether its the success ofWonder WomanorSpider-Man,there are still original voices shining.
Because you have no safety net, no security blanket.
When you make a film likeThe Wall,theres only a downside here for me.
The danger of that is something I find appealing, but I may be a glutton for punishment!
Do you think theres a fear of looking ordinary for some established directors, as well?
…yeah, a small movie, then that will lessen your credibility?
Or it could expose you, because youre not that good.
Its easy to hide behind big movie stars and big spectacle.
The filmmakers a little bit more hidden.
Then you makeThe Wall,you couldnt be more exposed.
I thought, you know, someone should do that with a short film script.
That terrifies me, right, because you might get exposed.
Your film should be better.
And what if its not?
Stripping away all the resources that have built up around me.
The ability to attract big stars and big budgets, big spectacle.
And to be… its my own personal western.
Im gonna leave behind all those things and its just gonna be me.
Its a raw, intense film.
I was wondering aboutEdge Of Tomorrow,and its title changes.
I was wondering what the story was behind the scenes there.
So the book was calledAll You Need Is Kill.Japanese.
I was like, It clearly is not.
I cant wait to see you do with this one.
Because I know youve said…
Its really original.
I mean, thats partly why the title had to be something a little bit more unconventional.
The suits were so heavy and uncomfortable and the story issues with the time travel were so vexing.
Just talk to a filmmakers whos tried to put time travel in a movie.
So, we felt like we got out of that by the skin of our teeth.
This is not a conversation that started at a studio level.
It feels more original even than the first movie.
Tom and I and Emily are talking about going back into the trenches.
This time they want the suits to be made a little lighter.
Do you think itll be made at a similar budget level?
Its my hope that its smaller.
Because what people love so much aboutEdge Of Tomorroware the characters, and we have a story thats character-driven.
Thats the reason to make a sequel, because of the characters and the world.
But itll be a studio film it wont be on the scale ofThe Wall.
Its just really smart.
Chris McQuarrie as a close confidant hes worked on all of Toms films.
So were gonna repeat the process, but do it more efficiently.
It sounds really exciting.
I cant wait to see that.
I cant wait to see it either.
At the end of the day, thats who we are as filmmakers: were storytellers.
Its the same impulse.
Doug Liman, thank you very much.
The Wallis out in UK cinemas now.
