Do you ever get fatigued talking about your film so much?

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Fatigued, yes.

But tired of it?

Its tiring in that youre travelling a lot and talking about it.

Have you seenRed State?

I havent seen that film, no.

Because that film feels very How could someone be drawn in by this guy?.

WhereasMarthais the exact opposite.

Its like Wow, its very easy to be drawn in by this guy.

I try not to judge any characters or cast anything on to them other than their actions.

Obviously, when bad things happen, thats different.

I also didnt want to say Marthas this kind of person, thats why she joined.

I didnt want to say any of the smaller characters… And was it always John Hawkes you had in mind for Patrick?

Its a real balancing act, that role.

We were casting really late.

I mean, it happened really quickly and my casting director suggested him.

I think he brings so much humanity to it.

You talk about what were used to seeing.

I grew up on those.

It almost feels like youre setting that up.

Youve even got an architect in here, which is the classic Hollywood job role.

Really, just because something bad is going to happen because Martha thinks something bad is following her.

So that was it, really.

It just came from that.

I think making films, for me, is about confronting fear.

Or its like I hear something outside.

That fear of being in an isolated place is just something to confront, I guess.

But theyre both isolated, neither has any sense of safety.

You dont have that, Im surrounded by lots of people and at least Ill be okay.

Theres that feeling of being alone and theres no one around to help even when shes escaped.

Its funny, the shoot felt that way too.

It was intense and it was hard work, but there were so many people there.

Then we moved to the lake everything got smaller.

The structure of the film is really interesting.

It reminded me of watching Bertolucci films when I was younger and wondering what the hell was happening.

The flashbacks dont have any order to them.

No, because I hate flashbacks, first of all.

I cant think of a movie that I like that uses flashbacks.

Off hand, anyway.

Which is funny, because this film obviously is that.

But Buddhism is what I thought made sense to go along with this way of life that theyve chosen.

So everything happens in the present.

And when she came out she would have a complete loss of time and space.

So that was the reason why I chose to write it that way.

In terms of the way you shot it I found the close-ups quite unsettling.

Was that something you had in mind to do when you were writing it?

But Im guessing this was quite a low budget film.

Did you have much time with the actors beforehand or was it a case of diving right in?

It was all just talking beforehand.

I just want to get the talking to a minimum.

I dont want to work like that.

So in that sense we have the freedom to block and rehearse, but its pretty quick.

Theres no rehearsal ahead of time.

Because it looks like very naturalistic lighting.

Well, I wanted a naturalistic look but its all lit, its actually all lit.

Just lit really well [Laughs].

I was watching and I thought, Wow, it feels so bare.

Yeah, no its not.

Thats the thing, thats whats so impressive about Jody [Lee Lipes, the films cinematographer].

Hes just become so good that it just looks that way.

Thats the look we wanted, but its all very lit, just lit really well.

So, what was it, just candles?

I felt a similar thing about the soundtrack.

There are moments where its just breathing.

A persons breath is all you could hear.

Some of that stuffs scripted.

But then a lot of it we just find as were building and editing.

Hes an amazing guy.

And he and his team, they go out and record everything themselves in the area.

So if youre doing stuff outside, hell go and record out in the woods.

He sounds like John Travolta inBlow Out!

[Laughs] Yeah.

So what kind of films do you watch to wind down?

Because this is quite a tense film do you enjoy films that are a bit lighter?

Yeah, totally [Laughs].

What did I watch this week?

I watchedMalice…

Again?

Is that a repeat watch?

And whats that one with Jeff Bridges?

Yeah,Jagged Edge.

So a lot of thrillers?

[Laughs] Yeah, thats what my wife and I watched last weekend.

I love slasher movies.

I like the first hour of slasher movies, like 80s slasher movies.

I love the set up, and the landscape, and where they choose to set them.

And then when it gets all bloody I kind of turn it off.

But I like all that anticipation and build up.

Sean Durkin, thank you very much.

Martha Marcy May Marleneis released on Friday 3rd February.