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Luscious silver locks, with dainty Windsor spectacles perched at the end of one’s nose, is a classic look. It emits this real sense of assured experience, wisdom, knowledge, and this air of wholehearted trustworthiness. This is exactly the man you picture when the phrase “a wise man once told me” is uttered, with his staff and a glowing, godly light forming a halo around his figure. Images of Dumbledore, Gandalf, and Billy Connolly flood our brains… the Professor, the Wizard, and the softly spoken, Scottish Comedian… sounds like an updated take on C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Another man that fits the bill, albeit if you were to replace the staff with a camera and the heavenly dulcet tones of Connolly’s Glaswegian accent with that of a suburban south-Londoner, is director Paul Greengrass. The man behind the entire Bourne franchise, as well as having developed a formidable reputation for recreating movies on particular historic events like Bloody Sunday, United 93, Captain Phillips, 22 July, and News of the World, Greengrass matches the image of the silver-locked wise man with rounded spectacles, but his proficiency for thrilling, action-packed films hints at something altogether more populist in his wisdom.
After it was recently announced that Greengrass would be returning with a new movie, an adaptation based on yet another Stephen King novel, Fairy Tale, let’s take a closer look at some of the English director’s vast assembly of top films…
5 22 July
22 July is a dramatization of the 2011 terrorist attacks that were carried out at a youth camp in Norway. The 2018 movie presents the horrific slaughter of 77 teenagers on the island of Utoya just off the coast of Norway. Perpetrated by a neo-Nazi, the movie examines the terror that ensued, and the event that devastated a nation and shocked the world. Greengrass brings his typical flair for suspense and knowledge of historical context to meld yet another tense, great look at real-life violence.
4 Bloody Sunday
For many, U2’s lasting reputation has been “the band that gave everyone that free album on Apple Music that no one seemed to want.” However, once upon a time their credibility as one of the biggest bands in the world with the unmistakable presence of lead singer Bono was undeniable. At the height of their fame, U2 released the song Sunday Bloody Sunday, an ode to the troubles in Northern Ireland, and to the Bogside massacre that came to be infamously known as Bloody Sunday.
Greenaway’s version of Bloody Sunday stars James Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper, who leads a peaceful protest against preventive detention in Derry, Northern Ireland. The British army’s imposing presence soon descends into outright barbarity when they shoot dead 13 unarmed civilians and injure several more. The movie reproduces the complete, bloody frenzy, and the totally unprovoked reaction of the British Armed Forces.
3 Captain Phillips
Based on the fateful voyage of the Maersk Alabama, which sailed a little too close to the shores of the pirate-infested waters of Somalia, Captain Phillips is Paul Greengrass’ take on Captain Richard Phillips’ and his crew’s very real story about falling victim to a Somali pirate siege. It’s a truly fascinating illustration of the perils of being at sea and is a real lesson in human resilience, honor, and selflessness.
Tom Hanks plays Phillips, while the incandescent Barkhad Abdi as Abduwali Muse irrefutably steals the show as the man with an evil smile, and just as evil a temperament, who captures Phillips’ ship and takes him hostage. The incredible ending sequence is solidified in history as one of the most realistic depictions of stress and survival ever put to film.
2 United 93
9/11 is a day that’ll forever be remembered. To this day, its impact still reverberates around the globe, changing the lives of thousands of American families, and as a consequence seeing a drastic reformation of air travel protocol and American interference in the Middle East. United 93 emphatically delivers the story of those on-board United Airlines flight 93, on September 11th, 2001, taking us on the devastating journey from pre-departure, to the terrifying ordeal experienced by the passengers present during the terrorist hijacking of their plane.
Ultimately, it’s a story we all know the tragic ending to; however, Greengrass’ portrayal of that day’s events brings the tribulations endured by the victims to life in a hauntingly natural way in the first studio film to directly address the real-life tragedy.
1 Jason Bourne Franchise (Supremacy, Ultimatum, and Jason Bourne)
James Bond’s grittier and more realistic American cousin, Jason Bourne even shares the same initials with 007, so it was perhaps relatively predictable that Greengrass and Bourne’s producers may be accused of ripping off the longstanding British spy. However, it couldn’t be further from the truth; since The Bourne Identity aired in 2002, the film has grown a massive following. When Greengrass took to the directorial helm for its sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, its popularity continued to soar.
There has been this un-glamorous edge the Bourne movies have had over their transatlantic cousin, trading in the Aston Martin for a clapped-out old mini, the suits and tuxedos for an unremarkable yet practical pair of jeans and denim jacket, and the array of high-tech gadgets for just a humble pistol. Bourne (Matt Damon), an amnesiac, is it at constant loggerheads with his former employers, the CIA, continually dodging CIA agents sent out to kill him. Greengrass’ tenure overseeing three of the five Bourne movies, two of which arguably being the best movies of the Bourne franchise (The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) has been extremely influential for the action and thriller genres.
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