by SARAH ROWLAND

Even though The Ax is an American novel about the feelings of emasculation one middle-class man goes through after being “restructured” out of a job, director Costa-Gavras had no intention of setting his cinematic adaptation in the States.

“For me, there was never any doubt,” says the Greek-French director, who sat down with the Mirror to talk about his latest film. “As soon as I read it, I was like, ‘Okay, this has already been happening in the States for some time now, but this kind of situation has only been an issue in Europe, particularly in France in the last five or 10 years.’”

There was only one obstacle standing in his way. “Paramount had the rights and they wanted me to make the movie in Hollywood,” he says. “But I refused, because it would have been a completely different movie in the United States, and not a movie I’d like to make.”

The movie he ended up making is an intelligent black comedy that introduces us to Bruno (Jose Garcia) one year after his company has downsized. His severance pay is long gone, and he’s getting desperate to find some work in the increasingly competitive world of paper manufacturing. Fearful of losing the suburban lifestyle he and his family have grown accustomed to, he sets out to rid himself of all the competition by luring potential adversaries with a phoney job posting and then clumsily killing them one by one.

It’s hard to believe that an internationally renowned, Academy Award-winning director (Z, Missing) could relate to how obsolete Bruno feels after giving himself to one company, only to be thrown away like yesterday’s trash. Costa-Gavras disagrees.

“I feel obsolete all the time,” says the 73-year-old. “Nobody needs me anymore, except maybe my family. But as I get on in age, this becomes easier to accept.”

He does, however, acknowledge that being a filmmaker is a lot different than being a corporate stooge.

“We are like clowns, like gypsies in the cinema,” he says, never sounding more Euro. “I always told myself that if I could no longer make a living from films, I would wait tables or drive a cab. And I think most cinema people are prepared for that. Whereas people who have studied and worked most of their lives in one company aren’t so adaptable.”

Debra Winger and donuts

As far as getting just the right deadpan tone from Garcia, Costa-Gavras admits that was a bit of a challenge. “He’s known in France for his slapstick comedy and he’s very excellent at that,” he says. “But I always thought he was capable of doing something very exceptional. So I discussed it with him and he accepted my condition, which was he could never try to be funny. And for him, that was really kind of difficult.”

So is there a difference between directing Hollywood legends Jack Lemmon, who gave a devastating performance in 1982’s Missing, and French superstars like Garcia?

“No, not necessarily,” he says. “In my opinion, there are two types of actors. There are the actors who are there to serve the story and the actors who are there serving themselves. So I prefer the first kind.” According to him, the former category includes Lemmon, Garcia and Jessica Lange, who was his lead in 1989’s Music Box. He even lumps Debra Winger in this category, which is surprising considering she was rumoured to be a total bitch-hag on the set of 1988’s Betrayed.

“She was a very difficult person, but by the end of the shoot, we wound up being very friendly toward each other.”

Looking at his politically charged filmography, one can’t help but notice that he hasn’t worked on American turf for a long time. Does this mean he is over Hollywood?

“I was never under Hollywood,” he says. “I never felt very comfortable living there. Working there was great because at the time, I was very lucky to have good producers who didn’t make decisions based on what will make money and what won’t make money.

“So if I ever got those same working conditions, I’d do it again. But I don’t believe that will ever happen.”

Aside from creative control, is there any other difference between Tinseltown and French sets?

“A friend of mine who works in the States once told me, ‘Yeah, there’s a difference: there are a lot more donuts in America.’ He was right. ”

The Ax opens Friday, June 2

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