Esteemed filmmaker Ang Lee is back this year with Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, a wartime drama he shot entirely in 3D and intended for 4K presentation.
While such visual wizardry is typically reserved for effects-laden blockbusters and summer tentpoles, Lee’s rendition of the eponymous Ben Fountain novel is worlds away from a CG-heavy popcorn movie. Instead, the director chose this particular method of approach in order to envelope viewers in a heartfelt story, one that centers on 19-year-old Billy Lynn after he is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. In the featurette above, Lee expresses his passion for pushing the envelope, a flair that will continue when Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk opens in November.
Newcomer Joe Alwyn takes point as the troubled Billy Lynn, who faces the stressing reality of rehabilitation all the while dealing with PTSD. Interspersed with flashbacks, Lee’s feature slowly begins to unravel the mystery of what really happened on the front lines, effectively drawing a stark line under the realities of modern warfare and rose-tinted America’s perception of it.
A button-pressing subject matter and a legendary filmmaker aren’t the only things in the movie’s arsenal, there’s also a starry cast to surround Alwyn in the lead role. It includes Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Fast and Furious veteran Vin Diesel, Steve Martin and Chris Tucker.
Following tomorrow’s premiere at the New York Film Festival, Billy Lynn begins his Long Halftime Walk into theaters. He’ll arrive in time for November 11 at which point Lee’s opus will be jostling for a place in this year’s race for Oscar gold.
