Director Ben Wheatley on his new film and working with Cillian Murphy
Director Ben Wheatley’s films fuse biting dark comedy, jarring violence, chilling horror, and razor-sharp social satire - all stitched together with wild tonal swings that keep viewers off balance.From gritty crime thrillers to eerie folk horror and dream-like historical tales, Wheatley continually reinvents cinematic form and mood, crafting a signature style that challenges and refuses to fit into any box. Triskel Cinema is hosting a season dedicated to Wheatley’s films from January 25, which will conclude with a screening of his latest release, Bulk, on January 28. Wheatley will attend the screening of Bulk and participate in a post-screening Q&A session. Chris O’Neill, Head of Cinema at Triskel, says the English director’s appearance will be a big treat for fans. “We’re delighted to not only be screening Ben Wheatley’s latest film, but to have the man himself in person to present it,” said O’Neill.“Triskel has always supported film-makers with unique and uncompromising visions, and therefore we’ve shown many of Ben’s films over the years, so to have him in Cork is really going to be a special event that our patrons will enjoy.” The season opens with Kill List from 2011, a relentlessly intense, genre-defying film that follows hitmen Jay and Gal, played with chilling precision by Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley, as their gritty crime thriller spirals into a disturbing folk-horror nightmare. High-Rise, released in 2015, stars Tom Hiddleston as a disillusioned doctor eKill List, directed by Ben Wheatley, released in 2011nsnared in the escalating madness of a luxury high-rise, where residents descend into violent class warfare.The film masterfully fuses dystopian satire, science fiction, and unnerving social horror. Tom Hiddleston in a scene from High-RiseA Field In England, released in 2013, is set during the chaos of England’s Civil War, when a handful of deserters slip away from a brutal clash, vanishing into a field.There, a mysterious alchemist ensnares them in his obsessive hunt for a treasure he is certain lies beneath the tangled earth. The season will be a thrill for Wheatley’s fans, but what about newcomers to his work?The director, who is looking forward to coming to Cork, hints at what first-time viewers can expect. “Over the last 10 years or so, I have been operating in a space with arthouse and thriller elements,” he said.“Hopefully, [the season] reflects the society of each period in which they were made, and a love of film.“There’s stuff you can recognise if you are a film fan, but also, it’s trying to reach a little bit further into the audience.“The thread that runs through them all is really strong, committed performances. It’s bonkers having A Field In England and Kill List next to each other. It would be fun to watch all of them in a row and have never seen them before.” Wheatley’s latest film, Bulk, is a sci-fi thriller that skilfully combines homemade effects, dark humour, multiverse intrigue, and conspiracy.The story follows a man (Sam Riley) who becomes trapped in a mysterious house where each door leads to a different world.The film looks like a 1930s lo-fi sci-fi film, which Wheatley says took a combination of techniques to achieve its aesthetics. “We used techniques from the 1930s, but also cutting-edge technology. It’s feeding from both ends of cinema.“It’s a film that couldn’t have been made five years ago.“We used old cameras but reconditioned them so that they’re up to date. We used back projection that was quite fiddly and expensive up until a few years ago.“We also used computer monitors and televisions as backgrounds in scenes, which people will see, with the moon. Doing that was too expensive up until recently.” Wheatley says he wanted to make old-fashioned fiction, mixing genres and styles.He also admits he wanted to do something fun. The film is loaded with homemade effects and handmade models. “ Bulk is about adventures and fun, but it also has thriller elements and a looseness that comes from French New Wave cinema.“The fun of filmmaking is inventing things and not having to worry. When you make massive movies, and it’s going to cost millions to make something happen, that’s when it can be misery.“ Bulk was developed out of investigation.” Wheatley explained what he meant by investigation.A scene from Ben Wheatley’s 2013 horror film, A Field In England“We’d buy a projector off Amazon, try it out, and, if it worked, brilliant. On a bigger budget, you use a big company that will charge through the nose.“On Bulk, we needed spaceships, so we went on eBay and bulk-bought Airfix kits, got bits for a biplane, a submarine, and a helicopter, and glued them together. I could revert to being a kid again.” The director says that this style of filmmaking won’t work for all films, but Bulk’s story allowed him to be inventive. “If you create a world that is a little bit shoddy to start with, then everybody gets on board with it. You can do a broader scope without worrying about it.“With this, I thought: if you’re saying the world they exist in is broken and unreal, then once you set the aesthetic for that world, you can jump around in it.Ben Wheatley on the set of High-Rise with Tom Hiddleston“Suddenly, a modestly budgeted film can have a car chase, helicopters, and massive explosions. You flip it so that things that would have been a problem suddenly become a virtue.”Wheatley directed Cillian Murphy in his 2016 film, Free Fire. Did he know the Cork man would rise through the ranks to be an Oscar winner? “I don’t really think about it in those terms; it’s not that he would rise up, it’s more that they would understand,” said Wheatley.“He’s brilliant and was always brilliant from the start. It’s amazing the recognition for him is there. I think that’s fantastic and well earned, but there was never any doubt it would happen.” The Ben Wheatley season runs from January 25-28, with Wheatley attending the screening of his new film, Bulk, on January 28. See www.triskelartscentre.ie
