Mr Scorsese, what appealed to you most about the project?

Was it the emotional and psychological subject matter, or the opportunity to mix up genres?

MS:I think its both, and in that order.

Really, the first element that I connected with was the emotion.

Sorry, thats how it goes!

That opened the door, and was really enticing.

Sir Ben, this is your first time working with Scorsese.How did that work out?

And how did you approach your character?

BK:Receiving a phone call from Martin Scorsese… First, you stand, phone to your ear.

Then, given it is our first time together, its wonderful to jump in the deep end.

That is the process.

The emotion, the empathy, the sympathy.

MS:I didnt say that, just remember that!

How does that reputation affect your approach?

MS:All I can do is do the best work I can.

And I just need to make the best film I can.

And be happy with that film.

And so, you try your best.

And then, of course, when the film is released, we have to talk about it.

So, I take it very seriously.

Yes, theres always that element ofShock Corridorhovering around the picture, but never specifically.

In fact, we didnt even screen it, because its in us its in me, anyway.

[laughs] Or Sam!

But, no, the first film I showed Leo and Mark Ruffalo and Sir Ben wasLaura.

In the sense of the war-torn, war-ravaged hero.

World-weary, so to speak.

The body language of Dana Andrews.

The man who falls in love with a ghost.

Then, I showedOut Of The Past, Jacques Tournour.

The trap, the puzzle, the mystery.

But, primarily,Out Of The PastandLaura… andLet There Be Light, John Huston.

The Steel Helmet, we showed, the nature of the soldier.

For points of reference.

And that wonderful scene where he just takes over her apartment.

Loosens his tie, and makes himself a drink.

And looks at the portrait and the doorbell rings.

[laughs]

LDC:Lighten up in general?

I dont know, really.

And its very much a throwback to what moved me in cinema at a very early age.

These are the types of characters that I felt emotionally connected to, and thats inexplicable.

And I dont know if that hunger will ever be… that thirst will ever be quenched.

I dont know, I would love to try other genres, and I look forward to doing them.

It just depends on what moves me emotionally.

What was it like having Max von Sydow working on the film?

Along with Bergman, of course, and the other filmmakers he worked with.

But, he is one of those figures in cinema history that transcends the films that hes in.

Hes also international, in a sense.

So that he becomes in and of himself, Max von Sydow.

Its not Max from theSeventh Seal, or Max doing a small part inWild Strawberries.

OrThe Magician… orThe Exorcist, or any of the later films.

EvenNeedful Things, where he plays a small character inNeedful Things.

Its simply this extraordinary presence.

Ultimately, thats when I call in my collaborators.

Bob Richardson on camera, Dante Ferretti on production design.

And so, again, I show them references.I Walk With aZombie…

I show them other Val Lewton films… And films likeThe Trial, well look at some Polanski films.

Well look atBigger Than Life, Nick Ray,The Wrong Man, Hitchcock,Crossfire, Edward Dmytrych.

Its a constant process of pulling together the images.

I was rather shaken by all the green trees.

I dont want to be funny about it… its always been…

But I had asthma.

I couldnt go anywhere!

Id go to the movies, and theyd be in Technicolor.

And youd see the cowboys, and youd see the landscape.

Youd see forests in the Anthony Mann films.

Wow, its fantastic.

But I could never go in there!

But we did it, we did it on this thing.

At one point I was rock climbing, at seven in the morning, which was quite unique.

But, the colour of the leaves disturbed me, so we had to work on that.

Robbie Robertson was the other one I called upon, for the music.

But what if its modern symphonic music?

And so he started sending me CDs of different pieces of music.

Its an actual piece of music.

MS:Vertigois probably my favourite Hitchcock film, and one of my very favourite films of all time.

And its a film Im very obsessed with.

I saw it on its first release, in Vistavision!

Projected in Vistavision, at the Capitol Theater in New York.

At the moment the nun comes up at the end, in Vistavision, its just an extraordinary shot.

Everybody flocked to it, Brian DePalma, Steven Spielberg, all of us.

It was a Hitchcock retrospective.

But in any event, it was a film… its one of those I live with and by.

Whenever its on TCM, I watch it.

I happen to have a beautiful Technicolor print of it.

35mm, thats just beginning to go vinegar, but you could still screen it.

So you’re free to see the real colour.

I helped support the restoration of the picture, beautifully done by Bob Harris.

So, its very important, the musical score is very important.

Also, with John Williams hes done concerts of Bernard Herrmanns music.

Its something that is the very basis of cinema.

Its just an extraordinary thing.

And, I didnt have to see the film again.

Did I ask you see that, Leo?

LDC:No, actually, I saw that one on my own.

MS:I screened it for a number of people.

Ive screened it over the years many times.

I screen my old Technicolor print.

Its still holding on!

But I dont really know where I am every time I see the picture.

In other words I cant tell you thats directly the centre of the film.

I let it take me every time.

I just noticed this time that she writes him a letter and explains everything to him.

and Ive seen this film countless times.

I guess its me….

I find it inseparable from what I do.

Shutter Island is released today.Read our review here.