Interview: Gus Van Sant On What Drew Him to Direct ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

A Gus Van Sant film can be many things (as detailed here when I ranked his filmography). One thing it always is, however, is full of curiosity from its filmmaker. Van Sant can tackle just about any movie, with a period crime thriller being just his latest experiment with Dead Man’s Wire. Recently, I hopped on Zoom for a discussion with him about why the flick interested him in the first place. Today, as it gets set to go into wide release, our talk comes your way.

In my review of the film here, I spoke of Van Sant like so:

Director Gus Van Sant is relishing the opportunity to make a thriller from a bygone era here. Screenwriter Austin Kolodney provides a no-nonsense skeleton that Van Sant makes dance. He’s not shy about his period influences, though he never appears to be aping legends Sidney Lumet, Alan J. Pakula, and Sydney Pollack, but rather making this a loving homage. His control of pacing and tone, combined with the material provided to the cast by Kolodney, make this a flick that just flies by.

Below, you can see my conversation with Van Sant. We get into his career a bit, even his cameo in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (I didn’t even realize until the Zoom started that I was wearing a shirt from the film, though to his credit, he references the characters later on in the chat). He’s a director who fascinates me, so why Dead Man’s Wire appealed to him was of major interest to me. He gives a lot of shine to the movie’s screenwriter, which is also a classy move. The flick is in theaters nationwide this weekend, so if you haven’t given it a look yet, definitely do so ASAP. It’s real good stuff.

Here now is my interview with Dead Man’s Wire director Gus Van Sant. Enjoy:

Dead Man’s Wire is in theaters now!