Paul VerhoevensEllemeets the Safdie BrotherssGood Timein this revenge tale pushing the boundaries of cinematic gender stereotypes.
It sprung out of our love and enjoyment of high-octane, neo-noir thrillers.
But however much we love those movies, we realized that we dont exist in these worlds.
BBC Film/Agile Films
Theyre so hyper-masculine and revel in that kind of hyper-masculinity.
There are very rarely queer characters in these films.
And when there are, theyre often funny, with some kind of quirk.
Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon PingAgile Films
Ng cites the example of Chris Tuckers Ruby Rhod character in Luc Bessons 1997 cult hitThe Fifth Element.
Its a very queer character that adds texture and comic relief.
Wed been talking about me purely writing something for a while.
We pitched this idea.
They thought it was exciting and took a gamble, says Freeman.
Its not easy to find the money for a short.
None of this would exist without them taking a chance on us.
We owe them a lot.
The directors decided to recast the roles for the feature, signing Stewart-Jarrett and MacKay.
We wanted to distance the film from the short.
There were new characters and a new story, says Freeman.
Weve stayed close to Paapa, we really love him and his work, he adds.
Hopefully, well get to make more films, and he will come back in and be involved.
So, there wasnt a whole lot of drama to the decision.
I think we wanted the film to be a fresh start.
Freeman acknowledges thatMunich: The Edge Of Warand1917star MacKay was less of an obvious choice for Preston.
We got the script to his agent, and he really responded to it.
We had a drink, and he had a lot of passion for it and that was that.
He was really, really involved from the get-go which was lovely as its our first low-budget film.
Ng emphasizes how the character of Preston is utterly at odds with that of MacKay in real life.
It always surprises me how unlike George he is in the film.
In real life, hes sweet, so friendly and such a decent guy.
The film keeps spectators guessing whether it will be a tale of redemption or revenge until the end.
Ng says this was one of their aims.
