Director of “Enola Holmes 2” reveals how to break the ‘fourth wall’ and the joy of making historical films | INTERVIEW

The game is on with the premiere of “Enola Holmes 2″ this November 4, a film that marks the return of the young detective played by Millie Bobby Brown in a case that has even paralyzed her famous brother, Sherlock Holmes, played in turn by Henry Cavill.

To speak with El Comercio about this new adventure through the Victorian era, there is the director Harry Bradbeer, also director of the first film, as well as award-winning series such as “Fleabag” and “Killing Eve”. Next we have a talk of the important moment that inspired the plot of “Enola Holmes 2″, the joy (and difficulties) of filming historical films and how to break the ‘fourth wall’ without dying trying.

– The film begins with the message “what follows is true, at least the important parts”, and then tells a fictional version of the events that led to the first match strike. Why they chose this historical event as the narrative center of the film.

Because we wanted to tell a story about sisterhood among women. The first film was about a young woman who left home and learned to support herself, while in this sequel we were going to tell a story about going from “I” to “we”, how someone who works alone finds her collaborators in other women. So what better women than those on the other side of society, not from the aristocracy and country houses, but from the working class of the East End.

– Was the idea of ​​learning to ask for help always the evolution you thought for Enola Holmes in the sequel?

Yes, I think it was. Enola’s big flaw is her pride in him, she always wants to protect her own will, his own path, and frequently insists that he doesn’t need help from others. That’s something that we felt was hinted at in the first movie, and we wanted to put her under pressure and confront her with a mystery so complicated that she couldn’t solve it on her own to kind of tell a story about independence and strength, but also of the power of the union.

And that’s another reason why the matchmakers’ strike was so vital, because it shows a true history of women’s struggle against injustice at that time, which I think is still very relevant in today’s times where young women are still exploited and corruption continues.

– The Victorian era is fascinating not only as the beginning of so many labor movements, but also as a time where while the UK was ruled by a queen, women had so many restrictions on their power and opportunities. Could a story like “Enola Holmes” work in another era?

Well, I guess it could work, but I think the fun of it is taking events from the past and using their spirit to reflect the present, that’s the joy of historical adventure and drama. We could set “Enola Holmes” in the present day, but I feel like the movie would feel a little more deliberate and like we were hawking. I think it’s more fun to see our present through the prism of another era so that we understand how long this fight has been going on and why we have to keep fighting.

– Another aspect to enjoy about period films is the sets, which in “Enola Holmes 2″ looked extremely authentic. How did they achieve this effect?

I am happy that they convinced you, because they took a tremendous effort and are the biggest challenge of making a historical film in a city, since very few of the streets that you saw currently exist. So we had to go to Hull, in the north of England, to find that long street where you see Enola following Mae (Abbie Hern) in that first night scene. The match factory was a power station in Wapping, while the exteriors are found in the town of Chatman, in Kent, near the shore. We had to go to a lot of places outside of London to find those locations.

Meanwhile, for the location of the ‘music hall’ we researched and visited several of these venues and theaters that still exist. We put the set together from scratch in the Shepperton studio. It was a lot of effort, but sometimes you have to put something together if you can’t find it.

– Breaking the fourth wall is an old narrative technique, but one that is finding renewed use in the last decade with movies like “Enola Holmes” and the “Fleabag” series, which you also directed. In your opinion, what is the reason for its popularity?

You know, I’m interested to know why it’s so popular now. It’s a way for a character to connect directly to the audience and I think we now spend so much time watching Tik Tok and YouTube videos on our phones where they address the viewer that maybe the fact that in this drama or adventure we can have that The same relationship with the protagonist, the same immediate contact, increases its attractiveness.

– What is the best way to use this technique?

Talking to the audience is quite a few years old, since Shakespeare put Hamlet in front of the audience to converse with them. But in movies you can do it in so many different ways and sometimes the best of all is breaking the fourth wall with little natural looks at the camera and not overusing it. One of the keys is finding an actor who can really do it convincingly. Phoebe Waller Bridge has a tremendous natural instinct and ability to connect with us, and Millie (Bobbie Brown) shares quite a few of these instincts and abilities to connect directly with the audience. Not everyone can do it.

– “Enola Holmes 2” leaves enough loose ends for later stories. Will we see more movies in the saga?

As you say, there are a lot of loose ends and directions we could go. So yes, it is a possibility.

– Going into ‘spoilers’, I wanted to ask you about the final villain of the film, perhaps one of the most pitiable versions of this classic Sherlock Holmes character. How did you get the idea to present it like this?

Well, we thought that if we were going to refine that character, we better make it as different as possible so that it’s hidden and creates surprise. I’m glad you say it generates compassion, because I want us to feel compassion for everyone. I even have sympathy for Grail (David Thewlis), with all his vanity, susceptibility and love of the theater. We should care for all of our villains as well as our heroes.

During the development of the film I always had the idea, and again here is a spoiler alert, to introduce a servant who is ignored. It’s quite interesting to have a character who is silently watching everything from the background, absorbing everything, and using it for his own goals. A servant doesn’t have power or money, all they have is their ears, their intelligence and their wits, and I thought if we were going to do a villain origin story, I wanted it to be someone who had Moriarty traits like his ability for math and cunning to keep their cloaks dirty, but reinvented into a person who would use them in a different way. That’s what we have here.