DANIEL BARBER'S HARRY BROWN

shots.net catches up with Knucklehead's Daniel Barber about his feature film debut, Harry Brown, starring Sir Michael Caine.

Last night saw veteran commercials director Barber celebrate the release of his first feature at its premiere in London. Billed as a modern urban western, Harry Brown stars Sir Michael Caine as the film's eponymous hero, and tells the tale of a widowed pensioner battling against the deterioration of his neighbourhood in the face of local gangs, drugs and crime. We spoke to Barber to ask about moving from commercials to features, and back again.


How hard/easy is it to make the jump from directing commercials to directing feature films?

It's hard to make that leap. Commercials are not enough now to get you into features. Film is long form; it's about telling a story, developing characters, and holding an audience for at least one hour and 40 minutes longer than a commercial. For me it proved invaluable to have a longer form, but admittedly still a short film (35 mins) to show. So many film producers responded positively to The Tonto Woman and ultimately that piece led to me getting my first feature project. But, I was still regarded as a first time director. The Oscar nomination for The Tonto Woman was a big help too!

When did you first see the script and what was the process of getting it from page to screen like?

I first read Harry Brown in May/June 2008. I liked it immediately, but I realised it was a rough diamond. The writer Gary Young and I worked closely to develop it, a process which went on right up to shooting. Indeed, we often changed dialogue as we went along and changed action within scenes as well. The road from page to screen financially would be very hard to track. It still seems a miracle to me that we got to make the film - even with a leading man of the calibre of Sir Michael Caine and actors like Emily Mortimer, David Bradley, Iain Glenn and Liam Cunningham. I was given great freedom in the creative development of the film. I am not sure I would enjoy such freedoms if a big studio was involved.

What attracted you to the script in the first place?

It read as such a powerful story - a very normal man making a stand for justice, at a time when decent people from all around our country are, seemingly, continually confronted by lawless gangs. The story seemed to capture the zeitgeist of the broken Britain we live in. It was a story that needed to be made, with a message that really matters and that makes serious social comment.

Did you always envisage Michael Caine as the lead and was it difficult to get him on board?

It had to be Michael Caine. There is no one else that could play the role as well as him. Luckily he felt the same way. We met over lunch and hit it off immediately. He loved the script and he loved The Tonto Woman. "I love your short film and I want to work with you," he said. I was gobsmacked!

Are you still planning to direct commercials?

You betcha, I was born to direct commercials. It's where I come from and I have many friends in advertising, and I am already quoting on projects. I will direct my first commercial toward the end of November

What are you working on next?

Apart from commercials I am reading a lot of film scripts, so the future is looking busy. Just the way I like it.