Angel Films præsenterer Premiere: 24. maj Længde: 90 minutter Censur: 15 år Instruktør: Ben Wheatley Cast: Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer Premierebiografer: Gloria Biograf & Cafe, Nordisk Film Biografer Palads, Nordisk Film Biografer Århus, Nordisk Film Biografer Aalborg Kennedy, Nordisk Film Biografer Odense, CinemaxX København, CinemaxX Århus, CinemaxX Odense, Valby Kino, Atals Biograferne, Lalandia Bio. Synopsis: Boston, 1978. En våbenhandel mellem flere suspekte typer går spektakulært og eksplosivt galt og udvikler sig til en kæmpe skududveksling. Justine (Brie Larson) har arrangeret et møde mellem to irlændere og en kriminel bande ledet af det umage makkerpar Vernon (Sharlto Copley) og Ord (Armie Hammer). Sidstnævnte skal sælge en stor samling våben til irlænderne, men da situationen pludselig tilspidses, starter en kaotisk skudduel, hvor alle må kæmpe for egen overlevelse. Kontakt: Peter Sølvsten Thomsen, [email protected] FILM4 and BFI Present A Rook Films Production Free Fire Starring Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley and Noah Taylor Screenplay by Amy Jump Ben Wheatley Directed by Ben Wheatley Produced by Andy Starke SHORT SYNOPSIS Justine (Brie Larson) has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley) and a gang led by Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and Ord (Armie Hammer) who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues. LONG SYNOPSIS Massachusetts late ‘70s. A Winnebago cruises through the night towards the waterfront district with some urgency. The driver, Bernie (Enzo Cilenti), hurls abuse at other road users while in the passenger seat Stevo (Sam Riley) attempts to hold it together, his bruised face and air of dishevelment the result of the previous night’s antics, something he’s not keen to discuss. He smokes a joint to centre himself. At the dockside Stevo’s Irish brother-in-law Frank (Michael Smiley) agitatedly waits by a car containing the far more relaxed Chris (Cillian Murphy), a fellow Irishman and Frank’s business partner, and Justine (Brie Larson), an American intermediary in this deal. The Winnebago arrives, the stoned inhabitants fall out of it. Frank roughs Stevo up, annoyed by his unprofessional attitude. A man approaches this motley crew on the dockside. He is well groomed, dressed in sports jacket and polo neck sweater, exuding confidence and control with every step, this is Ord (Armie Hammer). Introductions are made, Ord pats everyone down, he doesn’t mind they are mostly armed his concern is for wires. Satisfied all is kosher the party moves into a nearby abandoned factory. “Fuck the small talk, let’s buy some guns, eh,” says Chris. They enter the main warehouse. It’s huge, half demolished, a few pillars, piles of rubble and broken down office partitions mark out the landscape. Rubbish, building debris, pieces of machinery and broken glass are everywhere. Ord calls out and two men enter: “international asshole” Vernon (Sharlto Copley) dressed expensively but with little taste and his business partner Martin (Babou Ceesay), the arms traders. Despite the discrepancy between what was ordered and what is delivered, the deal is struck and the cash changes hands. In an adjoining part of the factory, Gordon (Noah Taylor) and Harry (Jack Reynor) wait in a red Chevy van. Harry’s knuckles are badly bruised, also the result of some mysterious altercation the previous night... Satisfied with the cash count, Vernon and Martin radio to their underlings to bring in the rest of the consignment. Across the warehouse, Stevo spots Harry driving the Chevy and immediately becomes agitated, hiding his face and cursing. Gordon and Harry exit the Chevy and start to unload the gun crates from the back. Frank, annoyed with Stevo’s apparent shirking of his duties, sends him over to pick up the crates. Harry spots him, is stunned for a second then lunges for him with a crowbar, we learn it’s no coincidence that he and Stevo share fresh injuries. Both men have to be pulled apart by their respective gangs while Vernon, Martin, Ord and Justine try to figure out just what is going on and how to fix this ill-timed outburst of violence. Harry quietly reaches into the van, produces a revolver and shoots Stevo, hitting him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Harry is dragged away, in the ensuing melee Stevo draws his pistol and starts firing indiscriminately. The situation is now out of control. More guns are drawn, everyone dives for the nearest available cover, the warehouse becomes a shooting gallery. Shots and insults are traded between gangs, there’s no coming back from this mess. Just about everyone takes a bullet as tempers continue to flare. Just when it seems as if there’s no way things can get worse, high on a balcony overlooking the warehouse two snipers, Howard (Patrick Bergin) and Jimmy (Mark Monero), open fire. No one seems to know who ordered the snipers. In an effort to appease, Chris proposes they let Justine leave so she can contact everyone’s people to come and help sort out this escalating mess before they all bleed to death. As she attempts to leave a phone is heard ringing in the offices that overlook the warehouse. The uneasy truce is broken, the stakes are raised, shooting resumes as the gangs realise whoever reaches the phone first to call for outside help will win. To do this the other side must be stopped. At all costs. PRODUCTION STORY Free Fire sees Ben Wheatley return home to Rook Films after briefly leaving the fold for the critically acclaimed adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s High-Rise, produced by Jeremy Thomas. Reuniting with producer Andrew Starke, who has produced all Wheatley’s feature films bar High-Rise, Free Fire is Rook Films’ largest undertaking, adding to the company’s impressive resume containing not only Wheatley’s films but other such interesting and unique works as Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy, Steve Oram’s Aaaaaaaah! and the upcoming The Greasy Strangler from Jim Hosking. Origins Free Fire sees Wheatley’s longtime love of action cinema take full flourish. “It’s kind of pure cinema. I wanted to do something that was dynamic and kinetic, that played up to things I really enjoy, like editing” says Wheatley. “You can see a bit of it in stuff like Kill List and it’s in the ‘Doctor Who’ episodes I did as well. I grew up watching Sam Peckinpah films, I remember having a heightened reaction to things like the editing in The Wild Bunch, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia and Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, incredible.” It wasn’t just the influence of these classics that spawned Free Fire, the gulf between accounts of real life gun battles and how such events are portrayed on the big screen also played into its creation. “I’d read a lot of transcripts of shootouts. There’d been a big one that the FBI had in Miami, there’s a blow-by-blow account of what happened online. It’s insane and it’s always been at the back of my mind to put that into a film,” recounts Wheatley. “Looking at transcripts and ballistics reports, you see you don’t necessarily die right away if you get shot if the vital organs are missed. Another thing is that most people in gun battles aren’t very well trained. I was trying to think what it would really be like, obviously still within the bounds of entertainment, it’s not something I’ve really seen in a film.” The other key element in the creation of Free Fire was the casting, as Wheatley explains: “These things come from a lot of different places, as usual. Some of it came from wanting to work with Cillian Murphy, trying to work out what would be a good role for him. Cillian’s agent had phoned my agent, said he wanted to meet up and we chatted about what we might do together. So I went away and wrote him something, so that’s a bit different from other members of the cast.” With Murphy locked the rest of the cast fell into place. As the cast grew so it shaped the script, which evolved to accommodate and capitalise on the unique qualities each performer was bringing to the table. “Michael Smiley’s character was obviously written specifically for him because you couldn’t cast anyone else but Michael Smiley in that role I don’t think,” explains Wheatley. “The others were through casting. Amy (Jump) and I both really loved The Lone Ranger, so just on a punt we’d asked, “can we talk to Armie Hammer?” And they got in contact and said yes, so that was really nice. Amy rewrote it as we went along, as we were shooting, to mold it more into Armie’s voice. Sharlto, I’ve always been a massive fan of Sharlto, he was quite late into it but again we changed the role to fit him, made him South African. Sam Riley reached out with his agents, had a brief chat on Skype and he’s brilliant, like a young John Hurt.” The impressive cast also boasts a freshly minted Oscar winner. “Brie Larson, which is obviously a complete bonus and lucky for us,” says Wheatley. “I met her just through the agents again and they said she’s really cool do you want to meet up and have a chat with her? Of course I did and I’d seen some of her other films and thought she was great.