American Cinematographer - September 2008 - 24

24 September 2008 The Last Enemy photos by Philip Volkers, courtesy of Box TV. Above: The miniseries The Last Enemy, directed by Iain B. MacDonald and shot by Nigel Willoughby, presents a future rife with government surveillance. Below: Brothers Michael (Max Beesley, wearing brown jacket) and Stephen Ezard (Benedict Cumberbatch) and their mutual flame, Yasim (Anamaria Marinca), make a narrow getaway when their trip to the market goes awry. Future Scrutiny by Mark Hope-Jones Set to begin airing on Oct. 5 as part of PBS’ Masterpiece Contemporary season, The Last Enemy is a five-part miniseries commissioned for British and American audiences. The story is set in a dystopian London of the near future, where a catastrophic terrorist attack has heightened internal security to the point that citizens are constantly monitored. English mathematician Stephen Ezard (Benedict Cumberbatch) returns to his home city after several years’ absence to attend the funeral of his brother, Michael (Max Beesley), but soon discovers that all is not as it seems. Drawn into a quest to uncover the truth about a vaccine trial in which Michael had participated, Stephen becomes a target of ruthless scrutiny by the government and a shadowy character named David Russell (Robert Carlyle). Stripped of his identity, Stephen feels his grip on events loosen further when he falls in love with his brother’s widow, Yasim (Anamaria Marinca). “I saw the story primarily as being about a love triangle and the relationship between two brothers,” says director Iain B. MacDonald. “But beyond that, there was an important story and a debate to address about a surveillance society and how information about individuals can be used by the state.” After taking the reins on the series, MacDonald got together with cinematographer Nigel Willoughby to read Peter Berry’s scripts and discuss visual ideas and references. The director sought inspiration from 1970s conspiracy thrillers, including The Parallax View (1974), and classic British TV dramas such as The Edge of Darkness (1985), while Willoughby found the scripts brought Stanley Kubrick’s camerawork to mind. “I suppose the range of influences was quite wide,” MacDonald offers, “but when you start really getting into a project, it tends to develop a life of its own and guides you towards what it wants to be, rather than what you want to impose on it.” Berry’s scripts are fast-paced and continually jump between different sets of characters, which gave Willoughby the idea of developing separate looks for each group of people. The cinematographer explains, “There are the main characters and then there are government officials. We decided that for the political people, we would use Fuji stock and make their world look colder, whereas the Ezards would look more organic and earthy, which we achieved by using Kodak stock and Antique Suede filters. For the refuseniks [political objectors without official IDs], who are contained in a swamp area, we went with Fuji stock and gave their world a muddy, smoky, sepia look.” The 80-day shoot was split equally between London and Romania, where both studio and location scenes were shot. Because the scripts jump between settings almost as frequently as they do between groups of people, Willoughby decided that certain loca-

American Cinematographer - September 2008

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