STARBURST had the privilege to speak with French director Xavier Gens about his work on the powerful SKY Atlantic series Gangs of London, his love of genre cinema, and why violence can be fun…
STARBURST: Xavier, hi. So how did you get involved in Gangs of London?
Xavier Gens: I got involved because I know Gareth Evans very well. He phoned me up and asked if I wanted to be involved. I said yes before reading the material because I love Gareth’s work and I think it was a real opportunity to do something together. When we start shooting and prep, it was a real pleasure to understand his process and to go through the steps with him. A real pleasure and I really enjoy it.
Was it always planned that you would do three episodes?
Yes, when you do a TV show it’s divided into blocks. So Gareth did the pilot and the Episode 5 craziness [an epic standalone episode featuring a siege on a farmhouse by Danish Special forces]. Gareth knew what action scenes he wanted and would be in charge of the biggest ones of the show, based on this I was in charge of block 4. This is better for the actors, as you do a whole story block with them.
Gangs of London feels very cinematic, at the start of Episode 6, it beautifully transitions from a doll in the river up to the two actors on a bridge. Does making TV feel more like making a film now?
Completely, it is like directing a movie. You accept someone else’s world and this is Gareth’s universe. He asked me to direct three hours of his show, which was fantastic. We try to tell a story for each one-hour episode, let’s say it’s three hours of storytelling, we try to make as much as we can from it. When he asked me to direct Episode 6, I wasn’t surprised, because it’s the episode where torture is involved, very gory! [Laughs] Thanks, man, I know what you think about me!
That leads us on to violence. You are known for violent movies and Gangs of London is very violent. What attracts you to violence and why do you think audiences like it?
I will quote Quentin Tarantino when he was asked the same question – because it’s fucking fun! [Laughs] No, it’s not because we love violence, but we love genre movies. When you’re doing a genre movie, you have to commit to this and give the audience what they want, and it’s fucking fun! (Laughs) I think Gangs of London reflects the need to satisfy the audience.
Reflecting on your most controversial film, Frontier(s), part of the so-called ‘New French Extremity’ movement. It’s insane but great. What was the inspiration behind it?
Frontier(s) is a love letter to genre movies. It is more like a French spoof of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Descent. I wanted to do a film that was a concentration of all my favourite movies. It’s a movie you can see in different degrees. One is a survival and the other is a love letter to Tobe Hooper [director of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]. Also, it’s a love letter from France to American genre cinema.
Was Frontier(s) difficult to film, as there are so many elements involved?
It was super difficult, as it was an independent film with not much money. We shot in 35mm as that was important to me, so we could get a grainy feel that wasn’t possible on digital, and push the actor to extreme limits.
[Laughs] You put her through a lot! So Gangs of London was shot digitally?
Yes, that’s right. In fact, Matt [Flannery], the director of photography was doing interesting things, so I called the DP from Frontier(s) Laurent Bares and we stuck closely to his style. The only little thing we changed was we put a little bit of light in the eyes. I would say that’s the only difference between my episodes and the others. A tiny detail but an important one. The French touch.
And we hear there is a Season 2?
Yes, Corin [Hardy] is filming that now.
Are you involved?
I am helping out with the second unit at the moment.
And finally, do you have any other projects in the pipeline?
Yes. I am supposed to be shooting an action film in France and Thailand at the end of the year. I’m pretty excited about it. I can’t say too much as you never know what you can do in the current climate. Fingers crossed and if it works, I’ll tell you exactly what it is.
Gangs of London is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
