Although a lot of films in the Oscar race this year are dividing some audiences, there hasn't been anything quite as divisive as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.
Even before the film reached the nomination stage, there's been a backlash against the film for its content and how it deals with racism and it's taking a toll on its director, Martin McDonagh. Most of the anger has been directed towards Sam Rockwell's character, who critics of the film accuse of being redeemed by the end of the film.
McDonagh, in a new interview with EW, disagrees. "I don’t think his character is redeemed at all – he starts off as a racist jerk. He’s the same pretty much at the end, but, by the end, he’s seen that he has to change. There is room for it, and he has, to a degree, seen the error of his ways, but in no way is he supposed to become some sort of redeemed hero of the piece."
As for the responses against the film, McDonagh is pretty frank about how it makes him feel. "I kind of get hurt and wonder, why doesn’t everyone love it? But I don’t like films that everyone loves. And we’re not making films for six year olds, we’re not making The Avengers. We’re trying to do something that’s a bit little more difficult and more thoughtful."
"It’s supposed to be a deliberately messy and difficult film," McDonagh concludes. "Because it’s a messy and difficult world."
You can read the full interview here.
Via EW
