In Anatomy of a Scene, we ask directors to reveal the secrets needed to create the key scenes in their films. Watch new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also check out our collection of over 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel†
If you’re walking alone through the woods and come across an abandoned railway tunnel, would you walk in?
In Alex Garland’s psychological horror film, “Men”, there is a clear answer.
The film (now in theaters) stars Jessie Buckley as Harper, a woman who has escaped to a retreat in the English countryside to cope with the recent death of her husband. In this scene, she has taken a leisurely stroll and comes across a railway tunnel. She does indeed enter, causing surprising and haunting moments.
“I was just trying to do an extended sequence, with just one person, nobody essentially speaking, because she’s alone and just enjoying the space,” Garland said, “and then the space turned against her†
While in the tunnel, Harper realizes the acoustics are great and sings some notes that bounce back. She sings more notes and realizes that she can create harmonies, and a kind of song, in the tunnel.
Garland recalled that the script didn’t go into that much detail (“It said, she’s making an echo and the echo is a really good echo”), and that he was concerned about how he would run the sequence. The idea of having Buckley sing notes that would create a melody came about as he drove to the set.
He said that during his film shoots, he likes to try to “stay alive for possibilities, not setting things in stone.”
“It’s pretty easy to direct, because there’s so much anxiety in a day, because there’s been a lot of logistics and actors have prepared things and gaffers have prepared things and there’s light installations and catering trucks and all kinds of things, not to be fluid, but to carry through the agreed plan. But reasonable I try not to do that. I try to stay light on my feet.”
