“Seeing war through a child’s eyes is sobering. It helps us reconnect to a situation that’s ongoing and unfortunately very familiar,” Steve McQueen says of his latest film, Blitz. “I’ve never felt more useful as an artist because of what’s going on in the world.”
The film, which the 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner wrote and directed, tells a story from the Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” that the Nazis inflicted on London in World War II. The film follows George — an astonishing Elliott Heffernan, in his film debut — trying to return to his mother, Rita, played by Saoirse Ronan, amidst the bombings. She works in a plant building British bombs, to fight back.
McQueen’s own experience with war informed Blitz In 2006, before he made his first feature film, 2008’s Hunger, about Irish political prisoners, he produced the Queen and Country series commemorating British soldiers killed in Iraq. His stunning body of work also includes the 2011 sex-addiction drama Shame, the unpredictable 2018 crime story Widows, and 2020’s moving Small Axe series about West Indian communities in London from the 1960s through the early 1980s. He also made the 2021 docuseries Uprising, about British race relations.
Blitz also involves race — George is a biracial child whose parents had to fight prejudice even before the Nazis attacked — and shows Londoners who have historically been left out of World War II films. The cast also includes Paul Weller as Rita’s father, Gerald, and Benjamin Clementine as Ife, a police officer who comes to George’s aid.
We talked with McQueen about bringing 1940s London to life, the warm embrace of the past, and following the light.
Steve McQueen on VFX in Blitz
Sonya Alexander: Is this the most you’ve ever used VFX in a film?
Steve McQueen: Yes, it definitely is. To recreate 1940, one has to revert to that, but I tried to use it as minimally as possible. Using real locations and building real sets with Adam Stockhausen. It was great to recreate the world. We only used a little bit of green screen and that was for things at a distance, so there were hardly any VFX.
Sonya Alexander: The scene where the kids are on top of the train, how difficult was that to shoot?
Steve McQueen: That was fun. Children and trains… ice cream and jelly. It was a great combination. They had a great time on top of the train. We were dealing with a bit of special effects because you’re not going to really have children on top of a running train. It didn’t hinder their enjoyment of how we did that. With the wind machine going…it was joyous to see them having so much fun.
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Sonya Alexander: What was the process for showing the bombs falling?
Steve McQueen: I drew it out because I loved the idea of the actual incendiaries because it relates to Rita making the missiles. A perverse narrative of someone making missiles while at the same time hiding from them. So, the dropping of them gives us the full story.
Sonya Alexander: For the exterior scenes of chaos and fires, how did you decide what shots to use to show emotional intimacy and closeness between characters?
Steve McQueen: The first example of the Blitz is at the beginning of the picture. I was interested in detail. What kind of fire equipment would they use? … The fire hoses were leaking. They became these out-of-control spitting serpents. The tactile nature of it made it like fighting a fire-breathing dragon with a water pistol.
There’s another scene with George running the gauntlet in this situation which showed the furious nature of what people were up against. The fire station horse was running loose. It was just sort of the chaotic nature of the whole thing. That’s the intimacy of it. I didn’t want a sexy explosion or sexy fire. It was the blood, sweat, and tears that went into getting these things under control, which in some ways was a bit facile.
Sonya Alexander: Can you talk about casting Elliott Heffernan as George?
Steve McQueen: You write a script, then think to yourself, “Oh my goodness. Is there such a child out there? Is there a George?” We cast this broad net to cast this child and thank goodness we found Elliott. There was a real stillness about him. Like a silent movie star. You sort of saw yourself in him. I didn’t know what I needed until I saw George, but the fact that we could see ourselves in him was dynamite.
Steve McQueen on World War II and Iraq
Sonya Alexander: Can you describe your research?
Steve McQueen: The research started when I was a war artist in Iraq. Being on the ground with the troops there was the first initial research because I was in an actual war zone. When I came back to the U.K., I found this image of this Black child in an oversized coat, large suitcase, and a cap in a railway station ready to be evacuated. That was the start of me saying, “That’s my in.” Through this character George.
The research was just surface digging, it wasn’t so deep, but it was illuminating. There were so many things. My historical advisor, Joshua Levine, said that London was quite cosmopolitan. Large Chinese community. Large Black community. There was lots going on here.
Sonya Alexander: Do you have a formula for your creative process?
Steve McQueen: I don’t. I never came across a photo before and wanted to make a film based on that. If one was to follow me, they wouldn’t know how I do things. I don’t even know how I do things, but there’s a will and a want and a need to do things.
Sonya Alexander: You’ve made a wide variety of films. Do you prefer writing historical or contemporary stories?
Steve McQueen: I prefer a good story. Doesn’t matter if it’s past or present.
Sonya Alexander: Do you ever find yourself emotionally affected when you’re filming?
Steve McQueen: Not when I’m filming, but after the fact, yes. You hold onto so many things that you heard and engage with, but you’re so focused on getting it done. When I finished Hunger, I had a huge rash under my arm. I know that was the fallout of having been there.
Sonya Alexander: You co-write the song “Winter Coat” for the film.
Steve McQueen: Yes, I co-wrote it with Nicholas Britell and Taura Stinson. That was based on my father. When he died, he left me his winter coat. I loved the tactile nature of being able to feel someone who you love on your body. It’s almost like a hug.
Sonya Alexander: Do you see yourself writing a song again?
Steve McQueen: I’m interested in ideas. It’s not suddenly that I’m a songwriter. I don’t limit myself to anything. If I can help or contribute to something or have an idea for something, that’s what I do. It’s not about labels, it’s about ideas.
Sonya Alexander: If you could have dinner with any of the characters that have been in your films, who would it be?
Steve McQueen: Definitely George. And Rita and Gerald. That whole family. And Ife.
Sonya Alexander: Do you feel you gravitate towards certain themes or is it just a good story you’re attracted to?
Steve McQueen: I’m interested in stories. Often ones, for me, that need light. I’m not hunting for those stories, but they’re obvious and exciting to me. I’m interested in stories that can ignite thought and generate conversation.
Blitz arrives in select theaters today 1 and will have its global premiere on Apple TV + on November 22 from Apple Original Films.
Main image: Elliott Heffernan in Blitz. Apple.