Cinema and Martial Arts

When and how did you decide to become a filmmaker?

 

I was born in Geneva/Switzerland. What made me decide to become a filmmaker was a film which pretty much changed my life: ENTER THE DRAGON. I saw it for the first time when I was eight years old and it instantly triggered two passions in me, which haven’t left me since then: cinema and martial arts. As one of my older brothers was making little films at the time, I was motivated to do the same and wanted to be like Bruce Lee. I picked up my dad’s camera and started creating stories and attempting to film them. It was only years later, while in the process of making a small feature film with a bunch of friends, that I realised I was more interested by being behind the camera than in front of it. This film actually became my diploma’s work in high school and as we were pretty proud of it, we organized a little screening in the school’s cinema. I remember the feeling I had while watching the film with about 150 other students who were laughing and entertained by it and that simply strengthened my choice and my motivation.

 

Where did the original idea for SUPERTRAMP come from and how has it maybe changed with time?

 

The idea came from my martial arts background and from my arriving in London. Indeed, the theme of the “tramp/hermit martial artist” is quite common in martial arts films/stories and characters I was always attracted by. When I first moved to London and used to cycle through different parks, I was shocked and somehow fascinated by the number of homeless people around. I started thinking about “what if one of them was actually a great martial artist who has decided to leave society and to live on his own, without any restrictions”. Although I liked the idea, I forgot it for a while, until a friend writer from school wrote me an email saying: “I’ve just had an idea crossing my mind; what about a film about a tramp martial artists?” The coincidence was too great to be ignored and we started developing the story together. Although he was originally supposed to write it, he ended up being too busy and I took over.    

 

Your main actor Dominic Kinnaird is a very experienced stuntman as well as an actor; and besides giving a marvellous performance he has worked on the action choreography on SUPERTRAMP with you. How and when did he get involved in the project?

 

I met him while looking for a stunt coordinator for my second film in school, which also contained a little fight scene in the end. My cinematographer at the time knew him and introduced us and we instantly hit it off. Our friendship and work relationship began when I sent him clips of fights I had done when I was still in Switzerland. He was impressed, loved them and was happy to join our team. I knew he was also an actor, I had seen his performance in a feature film he had recently finished which I found absolutely amazing. So I considered giving him a role in the film as well.  Although he was very good, another actor was more suitable for the role, and I promised myself I was going to make another film with him. He took it extremely well and we worked together on all my films until then. SUPERTRAMP was therefore written with him in mind. It was extremely important for me to have the main character being a very good fighter as well as an actor, and he was simply perfect for it.

 

The violence in the film is handled very well and very creative, which is really rare in a student film. What does the violence signify for you in the context of the film?

 

This film was somehow special as it was by far the grittiest and darkest I had made. Most of my other films are quite “light” and the fights tend to include comedy and to stay away from blood and violence. Indeed, as a martial artist, I obviously hate violence and I was trained to fight only if it is absolutely necessary, knowing that the best martial artists wouldn’t even need to fight or hurt their opponents. This film was a challenge, which was to make it as believable as possible. I had never made a fight that was totally realistic before, and I wanted to give it a try. For me, the film is completely anti-violence, and it is my hope that people understand that.

 

There are very interesting editing choices made by Duncan Bruce, and the colours are distorted, too. Can you tell us about how and at what stage stylistic choices like those were made?

 

Duncan Bruce was amazing. Indeed, as with most films, the editing was probably the hardest part. It took us many weeks, and the main problem was that we were reluctant to cut too much. I remember when the deadline was lurking and the film was still around 23 minutes. It was too long and we were stuck. I left Duncan to work on his own one evening, and when I came back the next day he was almost apologizing when he told me that he had cut about 3-4 minutes. We watched the new cut, and it was obvious that it was much better. We had to get rid of every shot and second that was not totally necessary to tell the story. It was a fantastic lesson. In terms of colours, it was a very long process as well. Andre Rusu, the grader, was extremely passionate and could spend many hours on one shot in order to make it as good as we wanted it to be. We wanted to stick to a gritty and pretty dark look, and I think he did a fantastic job.

 

Your film has moments that are reminiscent of classics from Sergio Leone to Paul Greengrass. Did you have specific role models for the style and look of the film?

 

It was actually hard for me find many references as I couldn’t really think of films that had a similar feel. Actually, the one we used a bit while developing it was GHOST DOG from Jim Jarmusch. Obviously, I had many “unconscious” references in my mind, martial art films in particular, and it is only later that I realized that I had actually made what could be considered a Western. Sergio Leone is on top of my favourite directors list and, I have no doubt I was somehow influenced by his films. As for Paul Greengrass, this is actually quite funny. Indeed, although I have a lot of respect for him and his work, I actually really don’t like the way he shoots and edits action sequences. It’s totally the opposite of what I like. As a martial artist, I want to work with people who have real skills so that I can film them as simply as possible and let their body do the work. I actually used the fights from the BOURNE trilogy to show my cinematographer what I didn’t want. Fights from GOILDENEYE and QUANTUM OF SOLACE were used as examples of camera work I liked. My ultimate model is obviously Bruce Lee and his incredible fights.

 

Please tell us something about the reception of this film, especially on where it has been shown and what reactions it provoked.

 

To be honest, I was a little bit scared when it started being shown. I recall being quite shocked by the intensity of the violence while watching the film after the sound mix. Everybody was laughing at me when they were seeing the film and hearing me afterwards saying that I hate violence. But all the screenings that I have attended so far went extremely well and I was overjoyed when people would come to see me afterwards and tell me that they loved it because “it is more than just violence”. The first time she saw it, my mum had to leave the room before the end but, she has seen the whole film since and likes it as well. The film got into seven festivals so far, most of them in America, and it was brilliantly received. The main actor even got runner up for the “Best Male Action Performer of the Year” at the Action on Film Festival.

 

What happened to you since SUPERTRAMP and what plans do you have for future films?

 

Although it is going pretty slowly, I am still working on a feature length version of SUPERTRAMP and am pretty much looking for a writer willing to collaborate with me on the project. Otherwise, I am currently finishing my new short FIST OF SANDWICH which is a little comedy/martial art, and was made through the Southern Exposure/Film London scheme. I have another project which is very dear to me, a feature film based on the life of a good friend of mine who is one of the best Hip Hop dancers in the world. A sort of dance version of 8 MILE and HUSTLE AND FLOW, and I am currently in search of an agent as well as developing a new script for a little short which I’d like to film soon.

 

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