While Paul Greengrass will always be remembered as the architect of the Bourne films, it’s his work in crafting visceral, hard-hitting docudramas on real-life events that have earned him the greatest acclaim. Early on in his career this was seen in powerful films My Bloody Sunday and The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, before he then tackled American topics in United 93 and Captain Phillips. Now Greengrass is back and earning early awards buzz for 22 July, a film that documents one of the most heinous acts of terrorism in Norwegian history.
Based on the book One of Us by journalist Åsne Seierstad, 22 July chronicles the 2011 Norway attacks, in which far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people by first detonating a van bomb then gunning down members of a workers’ youth organization. Greengrass penned the script himself, and cast Anders Danielsen Lie (Oslo, 31 August) in the role of Brievik.
Here’s is Greengrass’ statement coinciding with the film’s Venice premiere:
Cinema embraces many forms and many subjects, but its theme is always our humanity. It can show us love and wonder, find truth and beauty in the smallest of private moments, or thrill and entertain us with magnificent spectacles of imagined worlds. But from time to time, cinema must also dare to look unflinchingly at the way the world is – how it is moving, where it is going, and how we can confront it. This is the reason I set out to tell the inspiring story of Norway’s response to the right wing terrorist attack of 22 July 2011.
Netflix will debut 22 July on October 10th.
