Andrew Garfield's new war movie director reveals what inspired him to make gritty epic

The Uprising is the forthcoming film starring Andrew Garfield, in which he slips into the role of a farmer living in a plague-hit village who, forced by the harsh conditions, leads a rebellion against King Richard II.

But the idea of an action period drama, director Paul Greengrass says, came to him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his view, he sought to tell a story from the perspective of ordinary people rather than kings and nobles.

“What was interesting to me about its universality was that it was sort of the first moment in our history when, if you like, the common person, the common man and woman took center stage and history was no longer going to be about kings and queens and the rich and powerful,” he said.

“It was going to be about what ordinary folk wanted and their grievances and their dreams and hopes.”

Also, the director, who has been nominated for an Oscar, said that when he was writing the script, he could not do away with the perception that the themes of his movie are eerily relevant today, as people feel increasingly “angry and disenfranchised.”

Though Greengrass clarified, “I’m not making a party political point. It’s not about that."

In an interview with People, he further said, “It’s just a general feeling we all understand that people, our lands, whether it’s yours or mine or Europe, all across the world, there’s this sort of roiling rage, I suppose you’d call it. Discontent."

"And I think it’s to do with something struggling to be born, I suppose I’d put it like that.”

The Uprising is set to arrive in cinemas on September 11.