Three Vietnam War veterans reunite to bury the son of a comrade in Director Richard Linklater’s new drama, Last Flag Flying.
Linklater’s film tells the story of former Navy Corps medic Richard “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell), who enlists the help of his war buddies from three decades ago — former Marines Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) — to go on a road trip to bury his son, a young Marine killed in Iraq. As they travel up the East Coast to Shepherd’s home in New Hampshire, they try to come to terms with shared memories of the war that continues to shape their lives.
Following the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on November 5, Linklater sat down with Director Andrew Davis (The Guardian) to discuss the making of Last Flag Flying.
In addition to Last Flag Flying, Linklater’s other works include the feature films Slacker, Dazed and Confused, SubUrbia, School of Rock, Bernie and the award-nominated trilogy Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight; the movie for television $5.15/Hr.; the documentaries Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach and Woodshock; and episodes of the television series Up to Speed. He was nominated for an Academy Award and the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for his 2014 feature Boyhood. Linklater has been a member of the DGA since 1997.
You can listen to Linklater's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.