“Steve McQueen on making LFF opener ‘Blitz’, the urgency of a World War II drama today”

Steve McQueen will open the BFI London Film Festival with a world premiere on Wednesday night – and it won’t be his first time. But his new film “Blitz” is very different from the crime thriller “Widows,” which premiered in 2018.

“Blitz” is set in World War II London, when it was subjected to devastating nighttime attacks by German bomber planes and the population was forced to seek shelter underground, unaware of what remained of the city to which they returned each morning would. Set in just a few days, the haunting drama follows a 9-year-old boy – played by newcomer Elliot Heffernan – who is sent to the countryside for safety but is determined to return home to be with his mother (Saoirse Ronan). find who is also She is desperately searching for her missing son amidst the chaos and carnage.

For Oscar winner and two-time BAFTA winner McQueen, the idea for “Blitz” first came to mind in 2003, when he became known primarily as a visual artist (his debut film “Hunger” was released in 2008) and was sent to cinemas as Britain’s official war artist to Iraq. While he was there, he went on tours of duty with British troops in Baghdad and Basra, which gave him “the feeling of camaraderie for the first time, which was strange and kind of perverse because it was war.” But it made him want to To think of Britain and the “Blitz” that brought the country together more than 60 years ago.

But those thoughts didn’t materialize into a film until many years later, when McQueen, while researching his miniseries “Small Ax,” came across an image of a little black boy in an oversized winter coat with a large suitcase waiting at a train station to be evacuated . “I thought, ‘What’s his story?'” he says. The boy’s odyssey through London in “Blitz” was ultimately put together with the help of the Imperial War Museum, historian Joshua Levine, and first-hand accounts of life during those deadly months of bombing, incorporating several real events and people from the period into the History were included. In addition to Heffernan and Ronan, Harris Dickinson, Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke also star in the film, as well as musicians Paul Weller and Benjamin Clementine.

Unlike all previous World War II films set in Britain, Blitz showcases the diversity of London at the time. McQueen notes that he “never tried to push a narrative,” but says the city was much more “cosmopolitan” than previously seen on screen.

In another first, “Blitz” features an original song by McQueen, who co-wrote “Winter’s Coat” with his longtime music partner Nicholas Britell. Ronan’s character emotionally sings the heartfelt ballad in a stirring scene. The discovery that the actress could sing well was a great relief for the director. “It was like, ‘Oh thank God for that!'” he says.

While a film about a war is always considered timely, McQueen also points out that events erupted while he was filming “Blitz” – such as the explosion of violence in the Middle East that led to deadly bombings of civilians in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon – gave the matter additional urgency.

Below, McQueen discusses the level of historical accuracy that went into “Blitz,” Ronan’s emotional recording of “Winter’s Coat” in the same Abbey Road studio where the Beatles recorded “Revolver,” and the powerful effect of war to see through the eyes of a child.

How did you find your young star in Elliot?

He had never played before. But we auditioned and did a big interview, and he was one of the kids that got in. I saw him on tape and thought: This kid has something. I think what was special about Elliot was that there was a silence. Nowadays kids have their phones and are very fiddly. But it was almost like a silent film because you saw his face and you thought, “Well, I think I know what he’s thinking.” But you don’t know what he’s thinking and you’re fascinated by his face. So it captures your attention and it has this seriousness to it. I wrote this film without knowing if there was a George. But Elliot transcended that role.

Saoirse Ronan sings beautifully in the film, but did you know she had this talent when she was first cast?

It was a worry! There are no ifs, buts or maybes, Saoirse is one of the greatest actresses of her generation. But without knowing that she could sing… when we heard her, we thought, “Oh, thank God for that.” Because not only could she sing, but she could sing like a bird. This song “Winter’s Coat” was created by me because my father left me his winter coat after he died and I always wanted to make a song about the idea of ​​that lyrical and physical nature of remembering someone. And she just delivered. It was written by me and Nicholas Britell. We had the same combination of “12 Years a Slave,” with Britell composing the songs and Hans Zimmer writing the score. Saoirse recorded the song at Abbey Road, Studio Three, the same studio where The Beatles recorded “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver,” and she was incredible. It was so emotional – there were hugs and lots of tears, just beautiful. I’m so glad she was able to do that.

So is “Winter’s Coat” the first song you wrote for a film?

Yes, I accept that! But I think it’s a song that everyone can relate to. I remember my father dying and thinking about his winter coat and how you could be with them, feel them and smell them. It’s about contact.

With Paul Weller and Benjamin Clementine you have cast two names who are much better known as musicians. What was the idea behind it?

With Paul, I just thought his face was authentic. He looks like a person from that time. He also writes and performs his own songs, so I thought he must be able to act. He was skeptical but trusted me and we got him an acting coach and he became more confident every day. He is such a beautiful man.

I wanted to make a film with Benjamin in the lead role six or seven years ago. I was in the process of developing it, but it didn’t come to fruition, as sometimes happens. But during that time he did something for Dune. And right after that I thought this would be perfect for him.

How deep did you go in terms of historical accuracy? For example, there is a shocking scene in which a bomb lands in a nightclub while it is in full swing. Did that actually happen?

Oh yes, that’s all true. It was the Café de Paris. Everything was right, even the song that was being sung when the bomb hit, the food being served, the band, the bandleader – Snakehips Johnson, an openly gay black man who lived with a very rich lord. But yeah, oh my God, everything was completely looked through and cut through, everything. Benjamin’s character Ife was a real character and basically patrolled the Marylebone area. And the speech he gave about people trying to desegregate the shelters was real. As does the character Mickey Davis, one of the architects of the NHS. But it wasn’t about checking boxes. I think it’s quite enlightening for people in some ways. But it is a landscape that was London at the time.

I have never seen a film about the Second World War that showed Britain at the time in such a diverse way. Was that part of the discovery during your research?

There were a few films, but they were only about troops, not civilians. Very, very, very, very little happened. Two or three, if any. For me it was easy because it was there. Scrape the surface and there it was. Central London was quite cosmopolitan. I’m not trying to push a narrative, the narrative was there. But we did research. And for example, there was a large Chinese population in central London and three black nightclubs near Seven Dials.

In the press releases you mention the parallels between “Blitz” and what is happening today. While you were making the film there was the attack on Israel, the war in Gaza and now Lebanon, with civilians being bombed like in London during World War II. Did you feel that these parallels became stronger and made the film more important?

Yes, I think the film has definitely become more urgent. And in a way, I’m very grateful to have been able to contribute to the larger discussion about where we are now. Because we see this picture through the eyes of a child. When did we compromise as adults? At what point did we turn a blind eye? When did we stop listening? At what point did we become passive towards things? Things are good and bad with the child. It’s right and wrong. So this film could somehow help us refocus from a child’s perspective. It is very important to see the war through the eyes of a child. When a child’s parents argue, it’s three times as bad as it actually is. And then when we see the war – which is already bad enough – in the child’s eyes, he would have to say to us: “What the hell are we doing?”