Two and a half years ago, Michael Winterbottom began a sabbatical. He had been bruised by losing control of the final cut on Greed, his satire about a Philip-Green-alike, played by Steve Coogan. He felt the studio had sabotaged the film’s impact by neutering its message. Winterbottom wanted captions over the end credits, explaining how much real-life fashion tycoons are worth and how little they pay their workers. The head of Sony did not. The truth, it seems, could not be handled.
Winterbottom’s sabbatical did not last long, but his commitment to facts over fiction has only strengthened. First, he wrote a book, Dark Matter: Independent Filmmaking in the 21st Century. It featured conversations with fellow British film-makers about the realities of the industry – in transcript format, with no space for misinterpretation.
