How a Scottish director turned a modern Western into one of the best American films of the year.
Hell or High Wateris one of the very best movies of 2016.
David Mackenzie:The script was given to me by my agent.
A, I loved it and B, I felt I could do something with it.
The script had a great sense of place, of character, of the world it belonged to.
It had my name on it, put it that way.
I felt very connected to it and very happy that I was able to do it.
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Youre nothing if not diverse in your choices.
In a way it is.
We didnt take it through a development process, which is great.
We just took the material and ran with it, and that was great.
Its a very American tale as you said.
Did you feel that you could bring a different viewpoint towards it as a Scottish filmmaker?
I didnt want to make an outsider film, I generally think film culture is international.
I felt as connected to that American story as anyone, in a way.
It does feel universal.
When the script came along that was something that I tuned into.
The fact that Im British is pretty irrelevant in a way.
Im happy about that.
Thats absolutely correct, yes.
We were trying to get as close as we could, in that way.
One of the things about the film thats so palpable is the sense of desperation.
There was a sense of that definitely there when we were filming it.
We had no idea what was going to happen next.
Theyre faceless as well.
Its not just an American theme but its a very universal theme nowadays with globalization.
Thats the state of our world and its not necessarily a very comfortable place.
When it came to casting, did you have any of the three leads in mind from the get-go?
I cant imagine anyone else playing these roles.
Theyre totally embedded into the fabric of the film.
They are those characters and always will be.
Talk about nurturing that in him and helping to develop that.
That was what the character demanded and Chris very boldly wanted to go there.
People lost him in franchises, do you know what I mean?
I think hes a really talented actor and Im very happy and keen to work with him again.
Its all down to intuition.
I film the material in whatever way it feels like its appropriate to do at the time.
It just depends on what the needs of the moment are and thats what the excitement of directing is.
Thats what I find exciting and I have a very creative set.
I dont have continuity people, I dont have clapper boards, I dont have monitors.
I shoot very fast, I shoot a lot and we just keep on going.
We keep on like a machine, trying to extract the good stuff out of whats there.
Its quite difficult to describe beyond that but its very intuitive and very energized.
Do you find that that creates an energy on set?
Especially since youre right there with the actors and not 40 feet away in a video village?
Its all about the energy, its all about that connection.
Was is challenging for you and Jeff and Gil Birmingham to find the right tone and make it work?
We were worried about it.
Gil was worried about misrepresenting Native Americans.
We went there with it.
Thats one of the things I think is really interesting about all of those relationships.
This has become the little movie that could this year.
I was delighted by the fact that it has touched people and yeah, its very encouraging.
Im delighted at the possibility to make these kinds of movies and for them to find an audience.
Hell or High Wateris out on Blu-ray and DVD today (November 22).
