Paul Morris on Filming the World Around Him
The filmmaker and director of Angry Young Men talks about the critical reception, influences on his work and the films he wants to make.
Back in May I had a chat with Paul Morris, the director of Angry Young Men (2022). The micro-budget film is set on a fictional housing estate in Scotland, and took Paul a little over five years to make. The result is a fascinating feature that has stayed with me since the first time I watched it. He spoke about his influences and the kinds of movies he’d like to make.
What's the latest thing you've seen in the cinema?
I think the last thing I saw was Aftersun (2022), which was a while ago. I absolutely loved it.
I really enjoyed that.
I like Paul Mescal. Before I saw it I heard Barry Jenkins was Executive Producer and the Director, Charlotte Wells, is Scottish. And I was just like, oh my god, this could be really exciting. And then I heard that she loves Lynne Ramsay, so I watched her short films. I thought it was incredible. It was just such a restrained and poised piece, you know? I just think it had a power to it that you can't really describe and that's what the best films do. You look at the stuff Lynne Ramsay and Charlotte Wells have done... and you realise women are winning big time in that area, those two filmmakers are just astonishing.
Let's talk a little bit about your work. Since Angry Young Men came out, how does it feel to have your work discussed by other people? I picked up a lot of people mentioning the kind of Scottishness of it, how have you responded to that?
A lot of people kept saying that the film reminds them of Bill Forsyth. And I think it's because there's such a small frame of reference for Scottish films. So, if a film is a coming-of-age story based in Scotland, people immediately associate it with Gregory's Girl (1981). The truth is that I didn’t see Gregory’s Girl until after I made Angry Young Men! Making the film was just about trying to show the place and voices I heard around me growing up.
I think the GFT described it as similar to some of John Carpenter’s films. I felt that too, there’s an Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) vibe to it. Was that intentional?
They said it's The Wild Bunch (1969) meets John Carpenter. I get The Wild Bunch, it’s about a bunch of guys on a mission that is doomed to fail. The Carpenter reference is maybe related to the synth-y score I wrote, or the low budget nature of it? I like those movies but they weren’t really an influence.
How do you go about the writing process?
For Angry Young Men it was more just thinking of the locations and cast. I try to understand how I’m feeling on a given day and then just go from there, trying to adapt that to what’s happening in the story. If I get stuck with a plot, I'll just get two characters talking. If the characters are talking for too long, I'll go back to structure.
One of the things I like about cinema is looking at the careers of different directors and exploring the choices they made and the different ways their movies follow up or respond to each other. Do you have a plan about the kinds of films you want to make? Is there a bigger strategy? Or is it just about what story you want to tell in a given moment?
It's hard because obviously it's a business as well. Bill Forsyth said, when one of his films did not do well, that he should have just ‘written a poem’ instead. To me, the ideal model would be someone like Alfonso Cuarón, being able to make Y Tu Mamá También (2001) and then doing Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Roma (2018), Children of Men (2006), and Gravity (2013), you know? To be able to be very personal and then do big films. I love blockbusters and I love arthouse. A career like his doesn’t feel very architectural, it just naturally goes in and out of the kinds of films that he likes. I think I’d like to do something like that.
In his case Prisoner of Azkaban was a hit and the studio gave him a bit of a blank check which he used to make Children of Men. So, like you said, there’s a business transaction there.
Even the likes of Kubrick, who we all hold in such high regard. He’s given interviews that show he had commerce in his mind from the start. After Spartacus (1960) was such a big hit he realised the freedom that came along with that to work in other projects. Steven Soderbergh, someone who consistently works, just takes on different projects and always goes with his gut, is another example of this. But there are so many pitfalls, you know, if you are overly calculated, you might wait five years, and then it's still a flop. More time doesn't necessarily mean it's a better film.
It feels like part of being a successful filmmaker is also about getting stuff done. Being able to stick with something through to completion. That’s kinda what happened to Angry Young Men right? You worked on it for over five years?
I think I spent a long time writing it. I started writing scenes that I liked. I was thinking ‘imagine we had this footage, that would be great to see even if I just had this snippet’. Going from that to making the film happen is pretty daunting. But I kept working on it because I imagined the finished film, and working to get there felt like working towards a reward.
I imagine it really pays off in the end. But like you said, it must be a bit of a logistical nightmare getting the people together and organising everything.
Yeah, figuring out people’s availability is difficult. And then there’s the weather and how that affects when we can shoot. All this in the context of having no crew and no budget.
What's your favourite shot of Angry Young Men?
I think it's a shot I had in mind for ages at my mum's back door and that's when the big team is revealed over the back fence. It's just a crane shot that comes up and over. [watch the shot here at 55:29]
I love that shot. You don't know that they're there and it's this Spielberg thing of revealing something through the camera movement. Talking about other filmmakers, what's inspiring you right now?
I’m watching Succession right now, like everyone else. I’m also doing a rewatch of Sopranos. Some Soderbergh. In terms of influences, Ivan's Childhood (1962) by Tarkovsky was a big one when it comes to the bittersweet look and some of what a camera can do blocking-wise. There are others; Army of Shadows (1969), Bottle Rocket (1996). In general, I take a lot from the conversations around me - listening to people and picking up on points of view. I love to take that stuff and work it out on the page, see what I can find and what that can become.