In the new world of British films, no one (apart from maybe Guy Ritchie) has carved out as much of a name as themselves as Nick Love.
After his writing and directing breakout hit with The Football Factory in 2004, Nick Love has made himself both loved and hated in double quick time with his harsh portrayals of British football culture, life and black comedy.
He talks to FemaleFirst about his new film The Firm, Danny Dyer and his trouble bringing a classic British cop show to the big screen.
FF: So what was in that made you want to become a director in the first place?
Nick Love: I started work as a runner when I was 18 and I’ve never looked back. I loved it, I love being around film sets, I love being around the whole business.
The fact that I was 18 years old and being screamed at by production managers and told to go and buy cigarettes at 4 o’clock in the morning, getting paid 80 quid a week, meant that there must have been something I loved about it.
FF: The Firm was originally an old BBC drama, how much did you take from that making this film?
NL: It’s hard to say really it’s such I different film I think, the way it turned out, the original film is a lot darker than my version actually and it’s a lot more violent in a way, where as my version, well, I’d like to think of it as a much more fun and upbeat version of the original one.
There are three or four scenes that are obviously the same as the original one, but then the rest of it is completely different.
FF: Did you enjoy making a lighter film?
Yeah, I did, it probably reflects my personality of where you are when you make the film and I feel softer than I used to be and so I suppose it’s gonna come out in my work a bit.
I did enjoy it, it was a small film, it was a cheap film and it’s not like we didn’t pay attention to it, but it was a fill in project, we were gonna make The Sweeney, and we pulled away from it at the last minute and decided to make The Firm.
What was really good about it was that there was no kind of pressure on making it. There was no attention on it and it was low budget so I could put unknown people in it and discover new talent, so there was a lot to enjoy about making it.
Obviously, making a film is always fairly stressful but in terms of within that it was probably the most enjoyable film I’ve made.
FF: You said then about The Sweeney, what’s going on with that now?
NL: We may still have a go at making it this year, but it has been as you might imagine fraught with problems from one thing to another and at times I have thought that this is something of a cursed project you know.
I still wanna make it, but I want to make in a way that I feel comfortable making it and part of the problem has always been that The Sweeney, even though it’s an English product is owned by an American studio so it’s trying to make a film that they feel comfortable with whilst also trying to make a film I feel comfortable making.
FF: You’ve said before that some parts of this film are celebrating 1980’s culture, what was it about then that you like?
NL: My first film was called Goodbye Charlie Bright and it was originally meant to be set in the eighties when I wrote the script.
I couldn’t make it set in the eighties for one reason or another and so I always had this feeling like I wanted to make a film about what it was like to be 15, 16, 17 growing up in South London, pretty bored and wanting to feel that experience of having more excitement in your life.
So that was something I really wanted to put on film, that whole thing of going out to night clubs trying to pull girls, getting drunk, doing stupid things basically being a bit of a twit, like Dom is with his mate Terry in The Firm.
So those are the sort of things that I wanted to celebrate because everyone’s been a young man, and everyone’s been part of a gang, be it a computer gang or a football violence gang, everyone’s been part of something.
Like I was saying to someone earlier today, I remember when I went to Cubs and it was the same thing, all the cool boys had a load of badges on their arms and seemed to be good at everything and you go in and you’ve got nothing on your arm and you’re desperate to be liked by them all. They were the sort of things that I wanted to put into the film.
FF: Why are all of your characters from London?
NL: It’s just because I know the area, it’s not because I’m biased towards London, but I think you ultimately make films about what you know, so there’d be no real reason to make a film about someone from Cardiff.
FF: You’ve worked with Danny Dyer on every film you’ve done before this, why?
NL: Well, there’s many reasons why I work with Danny, primarily because the films we’ve made, although they are hated by some people, they’re incredibly popular with a big demographic.
I think that in England it’s pretty hard making films and if you can get a following going on, it’s not something you just want to chuck away, and so we’ve worked together a lot.
Apart from that I think he’s a very good actor. He’s particularly good at comedy, ironically, is Danny and he’s incredibly easy to work with because he’s not got any ego and he’s a laugh and just gets on with it.
He doesn’t act like an actor, if you know what I mean. That always attracted me to him and he was always motivated not by money, but Danny was always motivated by wanting to make a film.
The reason with I didn’t work with him in the firm is that there was no way that I could make another film about football culture with Danny in it, having done The Business and The Football Factory with him.
FF: You’ve used football violence in two films, any real reason for that?
NL: I think The Football Factory really centres around the football whereas I think The Firm uses it much more as a backdrop. I’ve got no real particular reason for making films about football culture, it just happens.
I mean, The Football Factory was a book and I liked the book and wanted to make a film of it and The Firm, well buying the rights to the original film was a vehicle in way for making people recognise the title.
The film itself, well out of 90 minutes it probably has around seven minutes of football violence in it.
Well, ultimately, my films hit the same ceiling at the moment, so I am going to start branching out now and The Sweeney was going to be part of that, because it’s a much bigger budget, it’s more of an action film.
So I’m either going to make The Sweeney or another film that I’m writing at the moment and that’s a CGI driven action film.
The way I see it is that I’ve been basically learning my craft for the last few years. I’ve only been directing films for nine years, it’s not like I’ve been doing it all my life and now I’ve now got the confidence to move on and whatever I do next will be radically different.
FF: Which is harder, writing or directing?
NL: Well, the answer to that question is that if you haven’t written a good script you’ve got nothing to direct, but also, the thing about directing is that it’s more exposure directing a film, it’s much more stress.
I’m writing this new one now and it’s great, there’s no stress you’re just writing it on your own, having good time and you can let your imagination run wild when you write a film. So the writing is far easier than the directing.
FF: Would you ever direct someone else’s script?
NL: Yes, but because I’ve got a reputation for directing my own scripts, I don’t get sent that much stuff.
I used to a couple of years ago, but once you get known for one thing, people don’t seem to bother. I do get sent stuff, but most of it is stuff I’ve basically already done, people tend to do that don’t they?
FF: If they came knocking, would you go to Hollywood?
NL: It’s the flip of a coin really. I’ve been offered Hollywood stuff before which has been dreadful and
I’ve said no before I’ve even had a single meeting with them.
But, equally, Guy Ritchie’s just made a really good studio film and he’s had a great time doing it, so it’s not like it’s an evil place.
FF: For those unfamiliar with your work....
NL: Don’t bother.
FF: ...how to define The Firm and all your other films apart from all the other Football hooligan films that have popped up?
NL: Well ultimately, I try to make films with a heart and I think that comes across. I think that the main difference you see when you see an imitator is that they’re all the same sort of scenes, they’ve all done the same sort of things, but they just don’t have a soul.
Because, ultimately I’m actually more interested in the relationships and the characters more than the football violence, that comes across in a film like The Firm.
That’s the difference, you can actually feel for the characters rather than just sit there going ‘I’m watching endless punch-ups and people getting beaten up in slow-motion, but what the f*** is it’
The Firm is out on DVD and Blu-Ray from February 1st.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith
In the new world of British films, no one (apart from maybe Guy Ritchie) has carved out as much of a name as themselves as Nick Love.
After his writing and directing breakout hit with The Football Factory in 2004, Nick Love has made himself both loved and hated in double quick time with his harsh portrayals of British football culture, life and black comedy.
He talks to FemaleFirst about his new film The Firm, Danny Dyer and his trouble bringing a classic British cop show to the big screen.
FF: So what was in that made you want to become a director in the first place?
Nick Love: I started work as a runner when I was 18 and I’ve never looked back. I loved it, I love being around film sets, I love being around the whole business.
The fact that I was 18 years old and being screamed at by production managers and told to go and buy cigarettes at 4 o’clock in the morning, getting paid 80 quid a week, meant that there must have been something I loved about it.
FF: The Firm was originally an old BBC drama, how much did you take from that making this film?
NL: It’s hard to say really it’s such I different film I think, the way it turned out, the original film is a lot darker than my version actually and it’s a lot more violent in a way, where as my version, well, I’d like to think of it as a much more fun and upbeat version of the original one.
There are three or four scenes that are obviously the same as the original one, but then the rest of it is completely different.
FF: Did you enjoy making a lighter film?
Yeah, I did, it probably reflects my personality of where you are when you make the film and I feel softer than I used to be and so I suppose it’s gonna come out in my work a bit.
I did enjoy it, it was a small film, it was a cheap film and it’s not like we didn’t pay attention to it, but it was a fill in project, we were gonna make The Sweeney, and we pulled away from it at the last minute and decided to make The Firm.
What was really good about it was that there was no kind of pressure on making it. There was no attention on it and it was low budget so I could put unknown people in it and discover new talent, so there was a lot to enjoy about making it.
Obviously, making a film is always fairly stressful but in terms of within that it was probably the most enjoyable film I’ve made.
FF: You said then about The Sweeney, what’s going on with that now?
NL: We may still have a go at making it this year, but it has been as you might imagine fraught with problems from one thing to another and at times I have thought that this is something of a cursed project you know.
I still wanna make it, but I want to make in a way that I feel comfortable making it and part of the problem has always been that The Sweeney, even though it’s an English product is owned by an American studio so it’s trying to make a film that they feel comfortable with whilst also trying to make a film I feel comfortable making.
FF: You’ve said before that some parts of this film are celebrating 1980’s culture, what was it about then that you like?
NL: My first film was called Goodbye Charlie Bright and it was originally meant to be set in the eighties when I wrote the script.
I couldn’t make it set in the eighties for one reason or another and so I always had this feeling like I wanted to make a film about what it was like to be 15, 16, 17 growing up in South London, pretty bored and wanting to feel that experience of having more excitement in your life.
So that was something I really wanted to put on film, that whole thing of going out to night clubs trying to pull girls, getting drunk, doing stupid things basically being a bit of a twit, like Dom is with his mate Terry in The Firm.
So those are the sort of things that I wanted to celebrate because everyone’s been a young man, and everyone’s been part of a gang, be it a computer gang or a football violence gang, everyone’s been part of something.
Like I was saying to someone earlier today, I remember when I went to Cubs and it was the same thing, all the cool boys had a load of badges on their arms and seemed to be good at everything and you go in and you’ve got nothing on your arm and you’re desperate to be liked by them all. They were the sort of things that I wanted to put into the film.
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