If Antoine Fuqua were not an accomplished film director, he says, he would probably be a journalist or a military officer. "You learn so much as a journalist. You dig underneath things," the 43-year-old Pittsburgh native said in an interview. He added, "I love being on the set and commanding that and making something move, achieving something." His accountant would doubtless advise Fuqua to remain in his current, more lucrative profession. Yet since first garnering recognition for his 1998 shoot-'em-up "The Replacement Killers," Fuqua has often demonstrated the inquisitiveness of an investigative reporter and the focused discipline of a division commander. He certainly brought those skill sets to bear while directing "Brooklyn's Finest," a noirish cop drama starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes. On the day before the the film's national release, Fuqua talked about the difficulty of financing a project, the pros and cons of streaming movies online, and why Sergio Leone is one of his favorite auteurs.

What's it like in the days leading up to the release of one of your films? Are you anxious about how the film will be received, or are you so busy promoting it that you don't have time to focus on anything else?
I have more anxiety than I am caught up in the promotion. The promotion stuff is really the handlers leading me to where I need to go and who I need to talk to and making phone calls and stuff like that. But in truth, we hang up the phone and I'm sitting here hoping that it strikes a nerve or people respect the work or like the work. You know what I mean? All the things we do, man, two years of my life. Two years of any movie. You want it to be well-received.

How would you describe the process of getting a movie financed these days?
Oh, man. It's like pissing in the wind, buddy. It's tough man, tough, because you just don't know what's real. I mean like trying to get ["Brooklyn's Finest"] financed, there were three or four people who said they had money and every time you start then they don't have the money. And then someone buys your movie like at Sundance and you get excited and then they don't have the money to put behind it, to [print and advertise]. And then if you're blessed and you get lucky or the movie works enough for someone like Overture to step up and purchase it and do it right and get it out there. But that process is so painful and scary to a filmmaker because all your work and everything could just be for nothing.

"Brooklyn's Finest" has an ensemble cast and multiple story lines that run parallel to each other, sometimes intersecting. What was the most challenging part of telling the story?
I think the most challenging part was keeping each story line focused. As a director, just to be able to help my actors as well as myself navigate through each story line and not confuse the two -- or the four, the four different stories. And being able to do that sometimes on the same day was a big scheduling issue because everybody has a lot going on in there lives. So there were days when I would get a certain actor for six hours and then have to switch gears and go get another actor for the remainder of the day. So I have to after lunch shift into Ethan Hawke mode. During breakfast I was in Richard Gere mode or Don Cheadle mode. And by dinner I'm in Wesley Snipes mode. So that's always a tough thing, psychologically, to stay on top of that.

What's the difference between making a movie New York versus making one in Los Angeles?
They're very similar in some ways, but, of course, the cities are so different. New York is tough, man. In L.A., once you get the cooperation of the people, you know, you just make your movie. In New York the subway trains don't stop, man. Getting people to slow down or block the street is almost impossible to do. That takes a lot of wrangling, especially at the Van Dykes [housing project] where we shot the movie. It's just a constant war zone, if you will. There's just always something happening, right in front of you. In L.A., things would happen in Watts or if I'm in Nickerson Gardens or over in the jungles thing would happen around us, not up close. In New York people would get shot like one block from where I'm standing. And we would all look around and hear gunshots and then people were scrambling and running up the streets. That's just New York. It's just in your face, man. It's intense, constantly.

Would you say that violence is a part of the American character?
Yeah, I would say so. Absolutely. Look at slavery. Look at the wars. It is. Sometimes it's a thing that brings the worst and the best out of us, unfortunately.

I counted three actors in "Brooklyn's Finest" who also appeared in HBO's "The Wire." Are you a fan of that series?
You know what? Honestly, I rarely watched that show. I saw it on DVD because I kept hearing so much about it. I mean, I grew up on the streets so I know the streets. But when I watched the show I was a fan afterwards, when it was actually off the air, and I was blown away that it didn't get any recognition -- awards and stuff. I was like, wow, these guys are good actors, it's well done. I started looking at some of these guys who are actually from Brooklyn who were in that TV show. And I said I want to give them a chance to be on the big screen, they deserve it. So that's why that happened. I'm a fan of the show now on DVD when I watch it.

"The Wire" didn't receive a single Emmy Award …
It's crazy. I sat and watched it and I just couldn't believe it. But in a way it makes sense. Anything close to being too real or that has that sort of power almost belongs in the '70s. But people in some of these positions refuse to believe that the world is that way.

"Avatar" or "The Hurt Locker"?
I like "Hurt Locker." I think "Avatar" is a great accomplishment, a major accomplishment. "Hurt Locker's" just my kind of movie. It's gritty. I think [director Kathryn Bigelow] did a great job. She did it for a very little bit of money. And it's just compelling and it held me the whole time. It's intense. I did see "Avatar" a few times.

You saw it more than once?
Three times. Once for myself, just to make sure it was O.K. for my kids, and then another time just technically. It's a great accomplishment. It's amazing. I would love to have that sort of success doing something like that.

Is the advent of streaming movies online a good thing or a bad thing?
Well it's a double-edged sword because if your movie doesn't get a chance to live on the big screen it's another way for people for discover it and that's good. It's another avenue. Any filmmaker would want to have as many avenues as possible as many people as possible to see your movie. But still for me growing up loving movies and watching "Apocalypse Now" and "The Godfather" and all those kinds of movies in the theater, I just think you're cheating yourself out of an experience of what the filmmaker's intentions were and how it can effect you with an audience. You now how it is, watching movies is completely different when you sit and watch it with a collective group. It's a different feeling.

I'm going to name three directors whom you admire. I'd like you to tell me which of their movies is your favorite and why. The first one is Akira Kurosawa.
Oh, my God. Wow. I've got so many favorite movies. I guess "The Seven Samurai" is the one that I discovered first, that effected me the most. Men fighting against the abuse of power, fighting and helping out the small man. Doing the right thing even if it costs you your life. Putting others before yourself, that selfish act. I've always loved that movie. And obviously they did "The Wild Bunch" and "The Magnificent Seven" here and I remember watching that and got the same feeling.

Sergio Leone.
My God. I'd have to say "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." I love movies about men. He made movies about men. Ugly, tough, antiheroes. Ultimately at the end always even Clint Eastwood's character who was a loner, a killer, always morally had a certain code that they live by. I love that in movies, having that code. You don't bend for anybody. Even if you're a killer there's a certain respect you have for women, children, the innocent, that kind of thing. But if you're a bad guy they take you out.

Martin Scorsese.
"Mean Streets." It's so raw, man. It's so real. [Robert] De Niro and [Harvey] Keitel. In that movie, man, they're just so young, so real, so full of energy, you can feel it. The way Scorsese filmed it, you can tell he made deals to get the shots of the festival. You can feel the rawness in it, that sort of street hunger. Young guys trying to survive, trying to figure out who they are. You can see the spiritual stuff in it. You can see Scorsese in it — now that I know Scorsese — that sort of half-priest, half-gangster type thing. I just love it, man.

Are you trying to make a movie about the Freedom Riders?
Yes, I have a script that Bill Boyles. It's a great story. But you know trying to get the money for something important that has some serious -- it's one of the best scripts I've read but that's a problem actually. It's a really good script. It should be made but nobody wants to give me the dough for it. If I can make some Freedom Rider toys I might get the money. [Laughs.] If all of a sudden the bus turns into a giant robot I'll be in business tomorrow. I just have to keep pushing and trying to raise that money.It's a great story, all these young black and white kids came together and they took a beating to change this country.

Best of luck in getting that movie made. It's certainly a story that needs to be told.
Yeah, I'm pushing hard on it. I'm gonna make it happen. I might have to do it for $1.50 but I'm gonna get it done.