Brokering the deal are business associates Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer).
Den of Geek: This movie almost felt like a one act play in a way.
Did you set out to have it just be one extended sequence, in a sense?
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Ben Wheatley: No.
People going, Oh its just half an hour of setting up, and then the action.
If you think about most movies, the setting up is usually about two minutes or three minutes.
Its rare to spend that much time with characters, you know?
Was there any temptation to take it outside this one location?
Or was the story, in your head, always this one place?
It was always that.
It was to do with the wounding of the characters, that theyre reduced in their options.
As soon as they got more options, then theyre going to be running all over the place.
Then it just becomes thin, you know?
The fact that theyre there fighting a trench war was the thing that interested me.
Its a war movie as much as anything else, you know?
Its usually you get your good platoon and then the faceless enemy that they mow down by the thousands.
The audience is definitely encouraged to hate the other side, whatever side its set on.
This is like two sides, and youre going, Well theyre all reasonable.
I like all of them.
Its all just cool.
The rest of them would probably all really get on.
Theyre in a really awful circumstance which just goes further and further wrong.
What led you to set it in the 70s?
Was it a particular mood or look or aesthetic you wanted to capture?
It wasnt necessarily the look in terms of the clothes and stuff, because that is what it is.
What are you saying?
How long did you look until you found the right warehouse to shoot this in?
I think it was about a month of looking at places up and down the UK.
Then, weirdly, it was one really near my house so I was like, Brilliant.
I cant quite believe Ive gotten away with this, but fine.
Any particular films or filmmakers that influenced you on this one?
Its that, and I guess Peckinpahs stuff is always in the back of my mind.
It wasnt like I rewatched a load of stuff and go, Oh lets do it like that.
Where its like a full-on dynamic movement of camera.
Yeah, I dont (laughs).
I call him Mr. Scorsese, is what I call him.
What was his input on this?
What was your interaction like?
Then there was a long discussion about the film after that, which was great, you know?
He was very generous about it, and he really liked it.
It could have been a real disaster if he didnt like it.
I dont know what we would have done really, but it was fine.
When I interviewed you forKill List, you were talking aboutFreakshiftthen.
But that is now your next film.
Has it changed much during the ensuing few years?
Its pretty much the same.
The drafts changed a bit over the years, but finally its time has come.
Im glad I didnt shoot it back then.
I wouldnt have known what I was doing.
Having doneFree Fireis a great primer for the use of physical effects, action, action editing and stuff.
I think it would have been overwhelming, that movie, to do immediately afterKill List.
I seem to recall something about a police station under siege from creatures of some kind…
No.
These monsters dig their way up each night, and then maraud around the city.
The city sends these guys out to basically stop them, so theyre a little bit like exterminators.
Its not terribly glamorous.
Its not something thats suddenly happening.
Its been happening for a long time, and its like Hill Street Blues.
I had a slight conversation with him via Twitter, but I dont know.
I wonder how excited hell be about it.
Not massively, I wouldnt have thought, you know?
Free Fireis out in theaters this Friday (April 21).
