Director’s Statement

We talked very much as we were shooting about what should be revealed and what should be concealed. It’s a time when one hid emotions, especially in the UK. The thing was to shoot relationships and try to get the camera at the right distance. Sometimes, you want to see the context of the couple. Sometimes, you want to be up close and just see their physical relationships—the detail of a hand or a foot, because the body reveals so much that the mind is trying to control. The real challenge is to find two actors who had really vivid inner lives that would transmit. Both Billy and Saoirse have that: their inner worlds are very clear. We were very lucky to find brilliant people who could do that.