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In Hollywood, there are directors that are known for directing certain types of films that stand out because they put their own unique spin on them. Antoine Fuqua is one of those directors. From Training Day to Shooter to Southpaw, Fuqua has made a name for himself as an action film director that infuses his work with a protagonist navigating larger philosophical concepts. In 2014's The Equalizer, Fuqua and writer Richard Wenk introduced us to Denzel Washington's Robert McCall who was grappling to lead a normal life while he ran from the terrible actions from his past. In The Equalizer 2, Fuqua and Wenk have McCall grappling with past memories that are guiding him back home while also taking time out to deliver his unique brand of vigilante and violent justice.
Fuqua's film (and Wenk's script) make a point of highlighting Marcel Proust's book In Search of Lost Time which introduces the reader to the idea of involuntary memory. The concept focuses on how cues encountered in everyday life evoke recollections of the past without conscious effort. McCall battles these memories throughout the movie as he must finally lay to rest the life he once knew and the world he lost.
At the press day for the movie, I sat down with Antoine Fuqua to ask him about what brought him back to direct his first sequel, the involuntary memory concept, if his tattoo of the archangel Michael wielding his sword affects his work, and where he sees McCall going next if there's a third installment in this series.
Check out what Antoine Fuqua had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by a few images.
Antoine Fuqua:
- What brought you back to this franchise to direct your first sequel?
- What is it about Marcel Proust's involuntary memory concept that appealed to him in this script?
- How does his tattoo of the archangel Michael influence the themes of punishment for the unjust in his films?
- Where he would set the next installment of this franchise if he returns to direct it?
