On the surface, Atomic Blonde is about a British spy in Berlin navigating the choppy political waters of the Cold War. But that plot is secondary to the high-energy fighting in the movie, which is one of the most visually innovative shoot-and-beat-’em-ups in recent years.
The linchpin of the film is a seven-minute fight in a stairwell, where the protagonist (Charlize Theron) has to battle her way through a series of bad guys — all in long, brutal sustained takes. In this episode of Behind the Movies, director David Leitch walks us through what it took to pull off such a complex and difficult set piece.