No one talks about the nuclear threat anymore. I want to open Pandora's box, says Bigelow to TT at the film festival in Venice.
She is the director behind tough films like the double Oscar winner "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty", all rooted in today's reality. The title of the new film "A House of Dynamite" refers to the fact that there is enough explosive material on earth to blow the planet to pieces. In the film, the US military discovers that a nuclear charge - no one knows from which country it comes - is on its way and will hit its intended target within 18 minutes. What to do?
Elba plays president
This is portrayed by Bigelow by retaking the action several times, each time depicted from different people's perspectives. Rebecca Ferguson is one of the heads of the US military command, Idris Elba plays the President of the United States.
Bigelow is a straightforward and funny person and the conversation about the earth's possible downfall paradoxically offers a lot of laughter. She tells how she as a school student got to practice an atomic bomb attack by hiding under her desk.
When the teacher said it was okay, we could get up. It was not possible to understand the consequences, Bigelow notes.
Hopefully, my film can start a discussion. You journalists are incredibly important: tell about these terrible weapons! Why is there no discussion? It's up to you. How is it that there is no debate about a system that can wipe us all out?
"Is completely true"
About the form, where the viewers get to experience what happens several times, she says:
It was a way to break down the action, to let it finally come to the person who decides whether the US will respond or not. That it takes 18 minutes from when the robot is sent on its way to when it hits is completely true.
However, the audience does not get to see how it ends - will there be an explosion or not?
It's up to the audience to judge. We ask questions, the audience has to come up with the answers. We humans are both the problem and the solution.
"A House Full of Dynamite" is produced for Netflix, but is first shown in theaters. It's been seven years since her last film came, will it take seven years until the next one?
I really hope not. I have several ideas. Why not "In the Shadow of Peace"?
Age: 73 years.
Lives: In Los Angeles.
Occupation: Director.
Previous films, selected: "Loveless", "The Price of Night", "Point Break", "Strange Days", "K-19: The Widowmaker", "The Hurt Locker", "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Detroit".
Current: With "A House of Dynamite" which has its Swedish cinema premiere on 10/10.
