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And then 2014 broughtMr.
Turner, a warts-and-all tribute to the 19th-century painter J.M.W.
Turner that earned four Oscar nominations.
As an American, the Peterloo Massacre was not something I learned about in school.
Having grown up in Manchester, were you familiar with it?No.
Thats the fascinating thing about it.
A lot of us that grew up in the area knew nothing about it at all.
It really is strange because it happened 15 minutes, on the bus, from where I grew up.
Im very familiar with those streets.
And its not that long ago.
It happened less than 100 years before my folks were born.
Im a big fan ofMr.
I know you madeTopsy-Turvy, but generally your previous work was smaller, more domestic films.
I dont think its true; I think its bullshit.
The world of Gilbert and Sullivan and the 19th-century theater has always fascinated me.
And the paintings of Turner have been top of my agenda since I was at art school.
And the notion of making a film about the Peterloo Massacre occurred to me some years ago.
So fundraising has gotten a little bit easier?Its never easy.
Is it different doing it for a movie of this scale?Yes because you want more money!
Were just going to make the film and youll see what you get.
This is going to be a film about Turner.
This is going to be a film about the Peterloo Massacre, without saying anything more than that.
And certainly no compromise about casting.
Brad Pitts a good actor, but …
Maybe not him for George IV.I dont think so!
And I have to say, incidentally, Amazon Studios have been immaculate the way theyve behaved.
No interference, no prerequisites, nothing but support right throughout the whole process.
Thats pretty lucky.Im amazed by how lucky Ive been.
Ive made 21 films and nobodys interfered with any of them.
Just walk away and forget it.
You traditionally use heavy rehearsals and a fair amount of improvisation.
Is that still the case on a film like this one?Yes and no.
Quite a lot of the action in this film comes out of history books, stuff that actually happened.
But in principle, we still do a lot of exploration.
I cant really answer that question because its there to serve the end product.
Its a way of preparing so that you could go on location and build it scene by scene.
One of the things that struck me about bothMr.
Turnerand this film is that you show this casual kindness between the characters.
(B) The preoccupations of the filmmakers are exclusively external.
Its about the look of it, about the locations, about the costumes.
Heres the thing: We dont ever question documentary film.
If you make a documentary, you point the camera at the event.
The event exists whether you point the camera at it or not.
And what happens with many a feature film is that what youre pointing the camera at is fake.
It hasnt got the kind of inevitable internal, integral, organic existence that a real event has.
Theres no education, 2 percent of the population had the vote.
Now just think about the fact that theres no education.
What you see in the film are these working-class lads not only making eloquent speeches but quoting the classics.
How come they could do that when they had no education?
But not everybody votes.
It should be, I think.
And people dont take advantage of their education, whereas their forebears were hungry for it.
You start to understand how people lived!
They had none of that.
Unless youre actually thick, or you really dont care, you soon get into understanding the mind-set.
When you really get it into your bloodstream, youre on it, really.
One of the things I loved is how unlikable you makeHenry Hunt.
Hes a bit of a diva.That comes straight out of the research.
His disdain was legendary.
A more conventional period piece might have made him the hero.Absolutely.
But what is a film about him if you dont have all these others?
People have said, How did you decide what to show?
The climax is a gigantic protest scene that ends with a cavalry troop massacring civilians.
It was the biggest thing youve ever shot.
What was the hardest part?I dont know the answer to that.
It was very well-organized and we prepared it a lot.
I have a brilliant assistant director.
We made various philosophical, artistic decisions.
There were no aerial shots, nothing that just sort of generalizes.
Youre experiencing it on the ground, in an individual way.
But you know what?
Theres just a lot more people and a lot of other things going on!
People say, Oh, I dont know how he did that.
But with a good team …
Earlier you seemed to bristle at the notion thatMr.
TurnerandPeterlooare radically different from your other films.If its different, the levels at which its different areobvious.
