There was an unbelievable amount of animosity in that war [for America Independence] which people have forgotten, which was still around 50 years later.

It's great that the story [Allied] is set in the '40s because the '40s feel to it is completely appropriate.

I don't think that jealousy and love and hate and anger and all those things have changed in the past 200 years - people just express themselves differently.

Sometimes if you're a director, you want to believe that you're great and capable at all aspects - the technical side, the lights, everything - but I'm not.

I must have been about 11 when I read the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which I read, over and over again.

I think certain periods of history don't get dealt with because I think historians, and it's their job, but they look back and look for patterns. They look for sequences and they look for reasons, and certain periods of history don't fit with the general pattern of 1500 to the 20th century, during which there's the creation of the United States. At this time of 1814, two nations who would eventually become close allies were at war with each other, so it doesn't quite fit.

It was great fun to do because of the central character. With The Girl in the Spider's Web, the girl is really the central character. She's the whole thing.