What attracted you to "Morvern Callar" after "Ratcatcher"?
Somebody showed me the book, I thought she [Morvern] was a fantastic character, but I knew I wanted to change it quite a bit. "Ratcatcher" is set in the 70s and I wanted to make something very modern, I didn't want to make the same film twice. I wanted to maybe experiment a bit more. I don't know why else you'd make films other than to try to push what you're doing further and further.
Do you think people will pigeonhole the film as arthouse?
I want an audience. People say this film is really arthouse, etc, but I've been encouraged by showing some young people the film, who are nothing to do with film. These young guys were like, "This rocks, I really like the music", or "She's cool". I hope the film works on a different level but unfortunately, people do go, "Oh we don't know what category this is: is it a film for young people? Is it art?" They can't put it in a box, so they do 15 prints and no one gets to see it.
Samantha Morton was an inspired choice, what was the attraction?
I didn't really cast her on the basis of other films. I saw a photograph, and to see an actor's photograph like that, she looked like she'd landed from a different planet. I didn't recognise her, I said, "Who's this?" She has an element in her of somebody who can do extraordinary things. There's an ordinariness about her as well, and there's a kind of dangerous side to her, and I felt that was Morvern Callar.
There's a desolate tone to your work similar to Mike Leigh and Ken Loach's work. Is it a British thing?
I think they're great filmmakers, but I don't see myself as being too stuck within the idea of staying in Britain to make films. But that doesn't mean I'm going to do it in Hollywood, either. They have a process and I really respect that. I know both of them and I think they're great, and the fact that they have still been able to make films like that is incredible, but there's new things happening too. For me it's an interesting time.
