With the epic Captain Phillips in cinemas right now (we gave it a full 5 Stars), we’ve decided to take a bit of a more detailed look at its director, Paul Greengrass.
Full Name: Paul Greengrass
D.O.B: 13th August 1955
Place of birth: Cheam, Surrey, UK
Height: 6ft
Profession: Director, screenwriter, producer and former journalist
Trademark
Greengrass is known for his use of the handheld camera to provoke realism in his films as well as specializing in dramatisations of real-life events
Early career
Greengrass was born in Cheam, Surrey to a teacher mother and river pilot/merchant seaman father. His brother, Mark Greengrass grew up to be a leading professor of history, specializing in early modern French history.
Paul was educated at Westcourt Primary School, Gravesend Grammar, Sevenoaks School and Queens’ College in Cambridge. After a very privileged education, Greengrass moved into journalism where he started working as a producer and director for the ITV current affairs programme World in Action in the 1980s.He traveled to political hotspots around the world, such as Africa and northern Ireland for the documentary series, becoming increasingly interested in the conflicts in the two countries. In many interviews he has cited that this start to his career was a crucial part of the development of his distinctive style of filmmaking.
Whilst directing World in Action, Greengrass co-authored the book Spycatcher, with Peter Wright (former assistant director of MI5), which exposed many MI5 secrets to the public.
In 1989, he directed Resurrected, his first fiction movie based on the true story of a British soldier who is left behind in the Falklands after the war. The film won a handful of awards at the Berlin International film festival, including the OCIC award and the Interfilm award. Resurrected saw Steve Coogan make his acting debut as youth 2 (this would not be the last time Greengrass worked with Coogan).
Over the course of his career, Greengrass developed his skills as a fiction filmmaker directing a series of TV movies, all dealing with social or political issues (which soon became what he was known for in the film world). These included Open Fire (1994) about a policeman accused of murder and the scandal it caused.
In 1999 Greengrass returned to the world of cinema, directing Kenneth Brannagh and Helena Bonham Carter in comedy drama, The Theory of Flight. Greengrass’ next project, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, would be his last television movie as he began to concentrate on the big screen.
Bloody Sunday
The powerful 2002 film looked at the Irish civil rights protest march and the massacre that followed it. Starring James Nesbitt, the film garnered critical acclaim with critics stating “you have to remind yourself at moments that you're not looking at a documentary.” Greengrass could create a realism in films that made him one of the hottest directors of the era.
The Bourne Supremacy
Greengrass’ next film was the second installment in the Jason Bourne series and the first time he would work with Matt Damon. Critics hailed the film an improvement on its predecessor and commended Greengrass on his commitment to real stunts.
United 93
One of the most harrowing events of the 21st century was adapted for Greengrass’ next film, the story of flight United 93. An intense film that highlighted the courage of passengers as they tried to overthrow those hijacking the plane. This is as raw as cinema gets, terrifying and thought provoking.
The Bourne Ultimatum
Greengrass returned for the third chapter of the Bourne franchise and unlike some sequels this was another exhilarating ride that pleased both critics and audiences. The director cemented Jason Bourne as hero of cinema in the 21st century.
Green Zone
Matt Damon teamed up with Greengrass for a third time in another film that looked at true events. Green Zone focused on the recent conflict in Afghanistan and the search for weapons of mass destruction. Greengrass was again commended for weaving the true with the fiction to create such an engaging piece of cinema.
Captain Phillips (2013)
Tom Hanks leads an exceptional cast in Greengrass’ latest film on Somali pirates hijacking a cargo ship. Shot mostly on an actual ship out at sea, Greengrass again brings the highest authenticity to one of the hottest films 2013.
