The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with writer-director Steve McQueen for
Blitz
ahead of its Apple TV+ premiere.

Blitz
blends historical events to portray the human condition in London during World War II.
During this interview, McQueen discusses using minimal VFX, filming intense sequences, and tackling untold stories from World War II.

Few auteur filmmakers can tear through a viewer’s skin and grasp at their heart like writer-director Steve McQueen. After telling profoundly personal and UK-centric stories like Hunger and Shame, McQueen took home the Best Picture Oscar for his uniquely American tragedy, 12 Years A Slave. Now, the director is back on his home turf to share an intense tapestry of the human condition by way of London in World War II in his new feature, Blitz.

McQueen’s Blitz follows a headstrong young boy named George (played by Elliott Heffernan) as he goes on an adventure in London during World War II. He soon finds himself in grave danger amidst the infamous Blitz, while his distraught mother (Saoirse Ronan) searches for him. The film also stars Stephen Graham, Kathy Burke, and musician Benjamin Clémentine in his debut film role.

McQueen was courteous enough to sit down with Collider’s own Steve Weintraub to talk about the new film. While together, McQueen shared the keys to projecting true authenticity on to the screen, why he chose to tell stories from The Blitz never before experienced in movie theaters, and how in the world he flooded an entire subway station for one of the film’s most memorable set pieces.

‘Blitz’ Explores a Period in London’s History Rarely Seen on Film

COLLIDER: I’m a big fan of your work. It’s great to talk with you today and I just wanna thank you for making movies.

STEVE MCQUEEN: Oh, what can I say? Thank you so much for that. That’s very kind of you.

A few of your films have not been released on 4K/physical media, and I’m just curious if there are any plans.

MCQUEEN: I hope it will be at one point. I have no idea why not. But yeah, that’s a great format and I will be looking into it. Thank you. [Laughs]

I would love it if you would.

Related The 10 Best Steve McQueen Movies, Ranked The Oscar-winning director is one of his generation’s brightest talents.

One of the things I really, really enjoyed about the film is the way you were able to weave in real historical events into the narrative of your film. Can you talk about why that was so important to you to mix those things together?

MCQUEEN: Doing the research was very important. You’re telling stories about this Black child, you’re introducing different kinds of lives which are, in general, not seen often in these kinds of movies. There has to be a basis for it and the research was there. It wasn’t a case of really digging for it, it was just how London was at that time, as my historical advisor, Joshua Levine, who wrote the book, The Secret History of the Blitz. At that point, London was quite a cosmopolitan city, central London. So, it was just one of those things which was very important for me to get the sort of authenticity of that moment to be visualized. It’s imperative, in fact.

I generally don’t talk about VFX — only when it’s bad — but I really enjoyed the way you used VFX in this with set extensions and some of those establishing shots. Can you talk about those establishing shots and showing London in a way that I have not seen?

MCQUEEN: Well, I think very little. I think that we did one establishing shot, which was, of course, the aftermath of that night of the bombing. We saw the aftermath, and, of course, at the end of the picture. I wanted to use very little because I wanted to work with myself and [production designer] Adam Stockhausen, and I wanted to work with real locations or builds. You get such a better experience as an audience member, but a better reaction and a better experience for the actor because you’re dealing with depth and perspective. I needed to work with it within a certain confines of reality. I think they were good because I could spend more time on the ones that we had to do. There were so few of them, so I could spend more time on them. Often, when you’ve got so many, I imagine the quality dips.

Time Is the Most Precious Commodity in Cinema
“It needs that kind of attention, and it needs that process for you to get the best results.”
Image via Apple TV+

I’m fascinated by the editing process because it’s where it all comes together. Can you talk about who you trust for honest feedback when you have your first cut of the movie?

MCQUEEN: My great editor, Pete [Sciberras]. But also, it’s one of those things where you have to, again, I think you leave it. You leave it alone for a while and come back to it. That’s very important, too. I feel when you have a situation where you’re so into it, it’s just a case of walking away from it for a while and coming back to it. You always see something that you could improve. I think that is, for myself and Pete, was one of those things where we walked away from it and had conversations. But I think if you leave things alone for long enough, certain answers will come to you.

It’s so interesting you say that because I haven’t heard that from people, but it’s so true when you come back to something. The problem with a lot of movies is that, because of the financing, there’s sometimes no time with certain projects.

MCQUEEN: You have to weave that in. You have to make time. You really have to make time for that. Because such an undertaking, it needs that kind of attention, and it needs that process for you to get the best results, as far as I’m concerned.

How Steve McQueen Flooded A Subway Station for ‘Blitz’
“You can imagine the chaos or not that could have happened.”
Image via Apple TV+

When you looked at the shooting schedule, what day did you have circled because you couldn’t wait to film something? And was there a day circled where you were like, “How the F are we gonna film this?”

MCQUEEN: When I was writing it I thought, “Well, how are we gonna film the flooding on the underground?” And then I couldn’t wait to do the dance sequences because they were so joyous! But, you know what was interesting? Both were joyous. Both were fantastic because you can’t believe that you’ve done certain things and you’re there. When you’re there, new ideas come about, new circumstances come about. So, at first, maybe there’s some trepidation because you think, “Okay, well, how are we gonna do that?” But when you’re on the set, it’s like, “Oh, this is fantastic.” My mother always said to take one day at a time. I used to get really frustrated with that, but it is like one of those situations. When you’re actually there, it’s actually not as bad as you may feel. Or it’s better than you think most of the time, hopefully.

I specifically do want to talk about that underwater tube sequence because it’s edge-of-your-seat. So well done. Can you talk about what it was like to film that sequence and the fact that you built a tube station to be able to do that?

MCQUEEN: Yes. So Adam Starkey, the art director, built the tube station, and it was amazing because, again, how do you flood a station? It was a real engineering feat — the water and how we replenished the water and so forth. And the extras, you can imagine the chaos that could have happened, but it was really well organized. People walked into the set and couldn’t believe it. It was one of those things where it was obviously a really important set piece in the film, and we had to get it right. It was a lot of months and months of planning, and I’m very excited for people to see it.

‘Blitz’ Is About the Truth-Tellers and Real People of London During WWII
“I was more interested in the civilians.”
Image via Apple TV+

One of the things that I also really appreciated is it’s just a different side of the war and I don’t believe I saw any soldiers in the movie.

MCQUEEN: Again, you could say that it’s deliberate, but at the same time, I was more interested in the civilians, what was going on with the people on the ground who had to, unfortunately, deal with the circumstances of war, rather than people fighting on some field in France in khakis and seeing how many people they killed to get victory. It was about the people on the ground having to deal with this hell that was put upon them.

As I said at the beginning, I am a fan of your work. Do you know what you’re doing next in terms of the movie or what’s coming up for you?

MCQUEEN: I’ve got some ideas but, unfortunately, I won’t be able to share them with you now. But honestly to goodness, you’ll be the first to know.

[Laughs] I don’t think I will, but sure.

MCQUEEN: Steve, you will be the first to know. Trust me.

I found it fascinating that you cast Paul Weller and Benjamin Clémentine, who are both musicians, obviously. What is it about musicians that you find they would make good actors?

MCQUEEN: Well, they’re truth-tellers, aren’t they? Both of them write their own songs, and both of them perform their songs. They’re truth-tellers. Also, the look of both of them, and the sensitivity, their sensibility, I thought they could translate into the character. I’m very, very happy with their performances. I mean, how could I not be?

Blitz arrives in theaters on November 1 and on Apple TV+ on November 22.

Follow the stories of a group of Londoners during the events of the British capital bombing in World War II.Director Steve McQueen Cast Elliott Heffernan , Saoirse Ronan , Paul Weller , Harris Dickinson , Benjamin Clementine , Kathy Burke , Stephen Graham , Leigh Gill , Mica Ricketts , CJ Beckford , Alex Jennings , Joshua McGuire , Hayley Squires , Erin Kellyman , Sally Messham Writers Steve McQueen Expand

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