David Schaal says his new movie 'Bermondsey Tales: Fall of the Roman Empire' is inspired by Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino films.
David Schaal as Charlie Roman in Bermondsey Tales: Fall of the Roman Empire
The British gangster movie is the feature film directorial debut of Michael Head and the 60-year-old actor is part of a stellar cast that includes John Hannah, Alan Ford, Maisie Smith, Adam Deacon, Linda Robson, Charlotte Kirk, Gary Webster, Charlie Clapham and more.
David - who is best known for playing Jay's dad Terry Cartwright in comedy series 'The Inbetweeners' and warehouse manager Taffy in Ricky Gervais' mockumentary 'The Office' - says the gritty crime drama has the hallmarks of Ritchie's gangster films 'Snatch' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' as well as the flashbacks and time jumping storytelling devices of Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' with a nod to Jonathan Glazer's 'Sexy Beast' as well.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: "It’s Guy Ritchie meets Jonathan Glazer, there’s a little bit of 'Sexy Beast' in there, there’s a revenge plot going on it as well. It’s very stylish. I also think there’s a little bit of Tarantino in there too in the way that the stories are told. Michael uses a lot of flashbacks and a lot of elliptical structure, one minute you’re there, one minute you’re over there, it’s all a bit back and forth, a bit 'Pulp Fiction'. You can see Michael’s influences.
"Considering it’s the very first film that he has directed it’s an extraordinary achievement. I think anybody who directs a movie in the first place is to be admired but for your first film to do it so stylishly is fantastic.
“He did amazingly well to get such a great cast together, there’s a lot of iconic people in it like Linda Robson and Gary Webster who used to be in 'Minder' years ago.
“I got to work with Alan Ford who was Brick Top in 'Snatch' and he was great. Charlie Clapham, who plays the lead in 'Bermondsey Tales', I worked with on 'Hollyoaks' years ago, that was a coincidence as well. But if you hang around long enough you work with everyone."
Known for his comedy roles, Schaal admits it was great to play criminal Charlie Roman and get some "gun action" in his scenes.
He said: "I play a guy called Charlie Roman who is Gary Webster’s brother. Gary plays Mick Roman, the film is billed as 'Bermondsey Tales: The Fall of the Roman Empire' so we are the Romans. I’m really part of the main firm but I hang around and I do bits and pieces and I worked for them in the past. My character is a bit of a Fredo character, he’s not quite in the business.
"There’s a sub-plot which is a revenge plot where my daughter tells me that something nasty happens to her so I can on this kind of vendetta to discover what happened to her and it’s got a surprising twist. He’s basically a father with a bad temper and it turns out that his daughter basically has no respect for him and they’re not getting on very well. She blames him for the demise of her mother who was a heroin addict. There’s a bit of 'EastEnders' family drama in there as well.
“I’ve got a scene where I’m screaming blue murder at my daughter and then later in the scene there’s a sensitive aspect to it and there’s some gun action, let’s just say that. It’s fantastic, it’s so much more interesting than playing nice characters. I’ve always thought that playing villains was much more interesting than playing a romantic hero. I’m glad I wasn’t born good-looking!”
David believes that the movie has great potential to become a franchise and he is hopeful that Michael will make a sequel.
He said: "I think it absolutely has got the potential for a sequel. I suppose it’s dependent on how well it does. These days not many films are making money at the box office so it depends what the life of the film is after that and what happens to it.
“Because of the actors that are in it I think people are going to be interested in watching it for sure.”
'Bermondsey Tales: Fall of the Roman Empire' is in select UK cinemas now and is available on Blu-ray and DVD and as a digital download from June 10.
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