Duane Hopkins

What was it that made you choose a multinarrative format for Better Things?

I wanted to try to abandon plot and concentrate solely on theme. Working with a combination of storylines allowed me to use all the elements I was interested in: the individual’s need for security and safety, emotional stability and happiness - all the things we associate with companionship. Also, one of my original aims was to create something that gave an overall impression of an area and its inhabitants, a single story would have been too restrictive.

Some may attempt to classify your work as British Social Realism.

I grew up watching the movies of Loach, Clarke and Leigh, so that influence is always going to be buried in there. My story and character obsessions certainly come from what could be called classic social realist territory: working class, troubled, angry, and violent - at least from the outside - but I think my use of them is different. Better Things attempts to move towards something more poetic or transcendental. I was more interested in the creation of an atmosphere than in realism.

You have often emphasised the rural dimension of your films. Why is this particularly important for you?

It is where I grew up [the Cotswolds], where my first obsessions were formed. I think I have always been motivated by a wish to create an honest depiction of rural England, to show that hard and intense subject matter exists there, to try and create a more authentic cinematic atmosphere of the area. To many of us who grew up there, the beauty and tourist ideal of the place is far removed from our own experiences.

Jude Lister