Anthony M. Greene is a cool dude. Not only is he multi-talented, but he also sounds like he thoroughly enjoys what he does. As he prepares for the release of his first feature-length film, The Henchman's War, Greene sits down to talk about the film, his inspirations, shooting in the Washington, DC area, and his take on the character dynamics at play in the movie.
You can read the interview below!
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So you’re a native Washingtonian,
that’s great!
It is.
Born and raised.
You both wrote and directed The Henchman’s War. What motivated you to write it? Any
particular inspiration?
Well, I
was in my house and I had nothing to do for a week, so... that’s when I wrote
it. [laughs] Actually, my initial inspiration was from watching movies like The Four Brothers and trying to figure
out why the henchmen always took so much s**t from their bosses. During the
time that I wrote it, I was heavily influenced by going through older movies
like Sergio Leon’s film Once Upon a Time
in the West and really just liking that whole minimalist approach to
filmmaking.
Of
course, with that stuff being embedded in my mind, I wanted to make a movie
that was kind of melancholy and noir-ish in that sense. And The Henchman’s War kind of stemmed from
that.
You used a lot of local areas for
scenes like driving scenes as Joe goes down the Northern
Virginia I-95 corridor. So was it a goal for you to include local
scenery and local talent as much as possible?
I had no
money. [laughs] I didn’t have it. The thing is, this area is very beautiful.
When you grow up here you don’t really think about it that much. And it has
three different states sort of encompassing the same circumference that have
different things to offer and a lot of people don’t take advantage of that.
Most people when they come to this area head right down to the Capitol and
monuments and just really concentrate on that. But from everything to the farm
where Joe had a confrontation to the beach scene at the end with Miranda, all
that stuff was local stuff within thirty minutes away from each other.
And it
wasn’t a lot of… I wanted to make sure that we could use what we had. I was
able to use a lot of locations guerilla style without having to get permits and
stuff like that. And make something on a lower budget that didn’t just take
place in the house for the whole hour and ten minutes or so.
Regardless of budget, I liked that
a lot. I’m also biased because I live in the area. [laughs]
Right,
there you go. ‘Cause right now thirty minutes from DC and I’m at Chesapeake Beach
So you’re a multi-talented guy. You
wrote and directed this film and on occasion you’ve composed music for your other works. Did you
compose any music for this film?
[laughs]
Nah, I supervised the music and I bought a lot of stuff. I picked up a lot of
local people that I’ve dealt with. I kind of really liked what they were able
to do so I wanted to stay away from my music and just put all the elements
together.
I used to
host open mics on U St.
The most interesting dynamic, for
me at least, were the scenes with Cubby and his wife. They’re kind of
imbalanced in a sense. He’s having morality issues about the unnecessary
killings and she sees the position as a high honor because it was her father’s
position. How did that particular dynamic evolve?
First of
all, they’re really good actors. So when I was able to bring them on, I rewrote
their scenes specifically for them two. And when you really look at it, the
only people who are never really advancing on anyone with a weapon, but the
complete catalyst for everything that happens for Joe and for Cubby is because
of the love of the women in their lives, which is more present in the book we
have for the movie from Joe’s perspective. But also for Cubby a lot of the
lifestyle when he’s talking in the office at the end, you know, it’s like ‘my
life took a turn because of my love for this woman.’
And I
really wanted that to be an underlying thing that connected both Joe and Cubby.
It helped them make a decision that took them on a path that maybe they didn’t
want to go on to. You know people who wanted to do one thing and then meet
someone who convinces them to be a surgeon and then they’re unhappy surgeons.
[laughs] So, it was really just a thing that when I wanted to have these two
sit across from each other, I wanted the two of them to really have something
in common.
And
Cubby’s wife is really the catalyst of showing just how much this life is
affected by the women in their lives. I love the argument that Cubby and Sandra
have. And it’s understood that she is the most powerful one in the movie. And
there were scenes that were cut out that have her interacting with other people
where her prowess and how clear she was would have been shown. But I want
people to understand that she’s just as much of the reason that Cubby existed
as Miranda is to Joe.
I liked that a lot actually. I
think it was well done.
I
appreciate that. It’s nerve wracking because a film is so subjective, because
you have people who like it and some people who think it’s awful, so you never
know how people are going to feel about it. You just put it out there and wait.
I liked a lot of the backseat and
light and dark shots you used in the film. Specifically the driving scenes and
how they kind of represented Joe King’s journey throughout the movie. Is that
the representation you intended on portraying?
Yeah. It
was. If anybody asked me when I first started I would say it was like Homer’s
Odyssey or something. It had to be a journey because when we first meet Joe,
the thing that spurs him to his demise is already done. And I didn’t want that
to be as important or centrifugal to everything because it was about him
getting home. Because the war he is having is about himself and you know, all
the things that have happened over time and led up to that morning when it all
starts is just the segway for him to get to his journey and to his final
destination.
And the
whole movie, he’s sailing to that point where he can be there with Miranda
again and live out his life the way that he wanted to. And it was about
driving, getting to where he needed to be. I wanted it to be understood that…
Because one of the biggest issues that I had was that I didn’t want it to be
play like a revenge show. And a lot of people saw it as a revenge show.
But Joe,
he has moments where he’s trying to avoid the actual confrontation and taking
of someone’s life. Of course the very first one in the beginning is a given and
that’s his most deliberate time when he pulls the trigger. Everything else from
then on is either a standoff or self-defense. Because it’s more about the
journey of getting to his final destination where he knows he’s headed.
I did notice that. He was a
henchman and everything, but it didn’t seem like he was killing people just for
the sake of killing people.
That’s
good. I’m glad somebody saw that. [laughs]
There are a few scenes that looked
like they were a lot of fun to film. Which one was your favorite one to do?
You know
what, I think my favorite scene is going to be everyone’s favorite scene, and
that’s the argument between Cubby and Sandra in the house. I think the energy
they have when they go back and forth with each other; it gives the movie its
grounding point. That one moment really gives you something, and you’re like
‘ok, this is a pretty cool moment.’
