Director Jeremy Saulniers back with a new thriller, Green Room.
He chats to us about John Carpenters influence, action and more.
In short, its the gig from hell.
Superbly acted, unfeasibly gory and nail-bitingly intense,Green Roomis another personal, handcrafted film from Saulnier.
I read that the inspiration forGreen Roomcame from your teenage love of punk rock.
Ad content continues below
Yeah.
I just wanted to set a movie in that world.
It seemed like a unique opportunity for me to do a siege scenario.
And I had no archive of it this was pre-cellphone camera, pre-internet.
I had a few snapshots here and there, but that was it.
That was my mission!
What was it like to create the dialogue scenes in this?
I wondered what your approach was.
I wouldnt compare Green Room to that work of magical [filmmaking]!
But I love to have control over that.
I find that most movies are so contrived.
I wanted to explore… what I was looking for was more realistic behaviour and human interaction.
Miscommunication and being somewhat inarticulate under pressure.
But every sentence means something emotionally.
They werent talking to the audience; they were really talking from their own perspective.
Thats fun, and kind of rare to see that projected on-screen especially in the genre space, really.
You see stark, beautiful movies a lot, but theres just no drama associated with them.
I remember you saying the same thing aboutBlue Ruinas well.
You had very ordinary people thrust into a revenge-thriller scenario.
Yeah.Blue Ruinwas much more action-oriented as well as being a very visual movie.
For most of its running time its primarily words.
Where do you think thats come from?
Its just how I approach filmmaking.
But I do like to approach all aspects of filmmaking in a grounded, realistic, human way.
Whether it be naturalistic lighting, or weathered, authentic textures in the production design.
Or the way the violence is portrayed in a realistic way.
I guess I gravitate towards that in all the elements.
Its a case of being true to my nature as a filmmaker.
They take either terrible shortcuts, or they go with these predictable plot twists, you know?
I want to be intuitive and grounded with everything.
Yeah, between a $5-6m budget.
I was very proud ofBlue Ruin.It was a very modest film with meagre means.
It was just amazing.
I was also wary of trying to replicate the tone and the mood of that movie.
It was done in such a rush that Id never seen it finished until we were entering it.
Almost revert emotionally, but scale up technically.
Have some fun making a movie like the ones that inspired me as a kid.
Using a simple premise and to mine everything I could from it.
I really love the texture of the filmmaking from the 80s from when I was growing up.
I loved the use of miniatures and matte paintings it was all done with a certain hands-on craft.
Thats what I wanted to explore in this film.
Youve no doubt been asked about John Carpenter a lot.
I saw the other day you ran down your top five Carpenter movies.
But why do you think hes become such a touchstone for a younger generation of filmmakers?
What is it specifically that makes him so interesting?
I think one thing is atmosphere.
Its hard to find that atmosphere in movies today.
Its that great, on-the-ground filmmaking where its a sci-fi scenario but it feels so… Theyre done in a grounded way.
His films are true and sincere, and theyre not self-parodies.
But his films are original and authentic.
They have a great sense of time and theyre also very politically relevant in their intentions.
Sometimes theyre just texturally amazing.
Hes a hands-on filmmaker.
The way he does his music, his score work is just phenomenal.
Thats one of the biggest influences I see in modern horror films.
His soundtracks are so sometimes a little too in line with the subjects that he pioneered.
It feels as though hes finally getting his due.
Because for a while he was pushed to the side a little bit, especially by some critics.
Now you have filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino referencing him forThe Hateful 8.
He said thatHateful 8was partly inspired byThe Thing.
Oh sure, yeah.
Thats one of my favourites of his.
Its a phenomenal movie.
You had a great cast of actors in this one Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart.
Im very careful not to let any celebrity consideration change how approach making movies.
We just loved making movies.
We were supportive of each other, and we enjoyed the process.
Because then you have these amazing self-support systems where were all in it together.
We feel comforted and emboldened by each others energy.
So I was lucky enough to work with the cast, and all of them were enthusiastic and kind.
Sir Patrick Stewart included he was a late addition.
He came on ten days before we shot, but he just swooped in.
He was an ensemble member.
We were shocked that he had interest in the movie!
[Laughs]
He came up with great questions about his character and dug right in.
We took it from there it was a fast process.
One of the big suspense scenes early in the film involves the Dead KennedysNazi Punkssong.
Did you have a fall-back song planned in case you couldnt?
There was no fall-back.
They all rallied and worked out great deals for us.
But there was no-o-o replacement for that song in that part of the film.
I was very lucky to get it approved.
So with Blue Ruin and nowGreen Room,are these the first two chapters in your ownThree Colourstrilogy?
Can we expect Red next?
I dont know if Ill ever do another movie with a colour in the title again.
It was more a coincidence!Green Roomactually pre-datesBlue Ruinas an idea, its title.
I never even thought Id do another movie afterBlue Ruin[Laughs].
Do you know what youre going to make next?
Ive got a lot of cool things in development.
Im going to take a bit of a break right now and start writing something.
Theres nothing official, though.
Of course, its always to each their own.
But the way Im trying to navigate this is not with wide eyes and a certain amount of trust.
I want to ensure Im protecting what I do and what I deliver to audiences.
Thats the main thing.
I want to confirm I establish myself as a filmmaker.
They definitely speak for who I am as a filmmaker.
I would love to try new movies bigger movies, a studio film perhaps.
Scripts that I have not written myself just to practice the craft of a director.
Theres a lot of the same problems in independent film as there are in the studio world.
But its the matter of compatibility and communication.
Jeremy Saulnier, thank you very much.
Green Roomis out in UK cinemas from the 13th May.