One for the lads

>> >> Madonna's groom Guy Ritchie on his latest mob movie, Snatch

by MATTHEW HAYS

Risking the charge that he was repeating himself, British director Guy Ritchie decided to deliver the expected goods with his second feature, Snatch. Much like his auspicious '98 debut, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the film has a motley crew of gangsters--some of them apparently invincible, others downright stupid--scrambling to retrieve a massive, ultra-valuable diamond.

Though no sequel, the film features some of the acting talents Ritchie discovered in his first film (including Vinnie Jones and Jason Flemyng), while picking up some thespians from across the pond (among them Benicio Del Toro and Brad Pitt, in a particularly hilarious role as a gypsy boxer). Pitt, apparently very impressed with Lock, Stock, was eager to work with Ritchie, and did Snatch for a cut rate.

A smart move, as it turns out. Snatch is a worthy followup, a funny, sharp and outrageous mob movie that won't disappoint Ritchie's considerable following. The film opened months ago in Britain, where it has already attracted a good deal of controversy. Some black artists have attacked its depiction of black characters, in criticisms strikingly similar to those made against Tarantino in the wake of his racial depictions in Pulp Fiction. Sir Richard Attenborough (Gandhi, Grey Owl) soon joined the tirades, suggesting to British newspapers that Ritchie was bowing down to "the pornography of violence because it is a prerequisite for commercial success."

And in case you hadn't heard, Ritchie also wed Madonna last month in a secretive ceremony in Scotland. He spoke with the Mirror from L.A.

Mirror: You talk a bit in interviews about the fact that this covers similar territory that Lock, Stock did. Were you worried about repeating yourself?

Guy Ritchie: I'm not worried about it necessarily. The films are made in the same vein, and I always had the intention of making the films in the same vein. Part of my philosophy behind that was, If it ain't broke, why fix it? It's not the same story. However, you can certainly see there's a correlation between the two films. But I always saw that as a strength rather than a weakness.

M: Do you see yourself stepping away from gangster movies after this?

GR: Yes. I'm going to steer away from that, for sure. I always thought it should be a trilogy, but I'm going to steer away from it for a few years. I want to get into something completely different next time. I felt I would have been robbing fans of the first film had I not endeavoured to make a second. I just heard so many funny stories about fellas when I was making the first film that I felt I had to make a second.

M: You use a number of the same people from Lock, Stock and then you have some American stars in the film, most notably Brad Pitt. Was it hard to merge their acting styles?

GR: No, in short. I think good actors are good actors, and they should be able to cross most boundaries. It certainly didn't frustrate what I was trying to get across. Everyone got along very well. There certainly was no transatlantic barrier, or professional barrier between all the actors.

A taste of spaghetti

M: Your films have been compared to those of Scorsese. You've also been compared to Tarantino. Is there anyone who really stands out as an influence on your work?

GR: I'm a big fan of Scorsese, I must say. Sergio Leone will play a part, at some point. I loved his spaghetti Westerns and his use of Morricone's music. I was just a big fan of the whole Sergio Leone library. There's numerous directors who've been an influence. Hopefully as I embark on a long and fruitful career in the film business, there will be various homages to various directors I have respect for.

M: You turned down Charlie's Angels. Do you ever see yourself working on big-budget Hollywood films?

GR: I certainly would if I felt I could offer something exciting. It's a minefield, Hollywood. The business as a whole is. If you're young enough, you can afford to choose carefully and judiciously. I'm not saying that will always be the case, but I'm not in a rush. Because I'm not in a rush, I can afford to take time to create an identity for myself. That's the theory, anyway, though it's yet to be seen. I think it's important to resist temptation at this stage in the game just so I can build up my confidence.

M: Is it going to be harder to resist those offers now, as you and Madonna are moving to L.A.?

GR: I shouldn't think I'll spend more time in L.A. than I would in New York or London. But the sun does shine in L.A., and that's something that if you ask any Englishman, he greatly appreciates. That's my main appreciation of L.A.

An Oscar for Best Shoes?

M: I must say, I was quite surprised to read Richard Attenborough's remarks. What does he expect, that all British films look like Billy Elliot and The Fully Monty?

GR: I must say, I was really surprised to read Richard Attenborough's remarks too. I don't know. It's something that's confused me slightly. He was somebody I always thought would have been an enthusiast, even if it wasn't his cup of tea. What with me being a British boy doing good, as it were. It was very strange how he was so vindictive and so vitriolic about my films. It's sort of reflected in my nominations from the British Academy. You've got to realize that there's only five significant British films that come out each year, so there isn't a whole reservoir of talent from which to choose. I get nominated for things like Best Sound, or for really mundane categories, like Design of Shoes, or something like that. It's very interesting. I've been nominated for Best Shoe Design for Snatch this year. It's curious. You're better off just getting no nominations at all then getting something like Best Shoe Design.

M: One of the things I find really impressive when reading about your working process is that you talk about changing things at the last minute and writing dialogue as you go. That's impressive considering how delicate and complex your plotlines and timelines are. How do you keep track of that while you're in production?

GR: It's not bloody easy, I gotta tell ya. As long as I've worked it out on paper, I find it's not too bad. When you start filming it, you think you've lost it all, but as long as you've got key points on paper, you can follow it. Of course you lose faith in that somewhere along the line, because you can't believe that anyone can follow it, because I can't follow it. In reality, once you have someone narrating it to expose the relevant pieces of plot, there doesn't seem to be a problem. It's incredibly hard to work out initially though. I think it's hard, but you know how you tend to eclipse bad memories, I think that's what's at play here (laughs).

Cunning calling card

M: Lock, Stock turned out to be one helluva calling card for you. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt loved it, you met Madonna because of it. Did you expect it to be this big?

GR: The downside was so enormous, back when I was trying to get the financing together and when I was trying to make it. I felt as though there had to be some divine intervention on the other side of it. It was one sod of a film to make, and extremely difficult to finance. Once we actually did make it and it turned out to be a success, I felt that was sort of a reward for us sticking at it. Nevertheless I'm still bloody surprised. I felt like my life started a couple of years ago when it took off. I felt like up till then I'd just been a supporter, on the sidelines, and all I ever wanted to do was get involved in the game.

M: Some are saying, with the second film, that you're an auteur, while others say you're more style than substance--MTV at feature length. How do you respond to that?

GR: I think it's too early in my career. Two films is not enough. I think you need, say, five films before you can start to reflect on a body of work, on exactly what a filmmaker is going to do, how significant he is. I think all you can do right now is theorize about what he's going to do next, if he's going to go on and do something exciting or if he's just MTV at feature length. Rather than me talking about it, I'd like to sort of manifest something more important. To act on it. We'll just have to wait and see.

M: This is very much a guy's movie. There's really only one female character, and she's a supporting one. Do you see yourself writing more women's roles in future movies?

GR: I think it's important that you decide what the identity of your film is before you make it. And this was going to be a lad's movie. Therefore it felt as though it would have been formulaic to have tried to create some significant female roles. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just evolved like it did. But I certainly want to create significant female roles in future. The great thing about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is that the females in the film are really kickass. And the film is really about ladies, tough birds. That's very interesting. I'd much rather make a film where women are doing something interesting rather than sitting around, looking pretty and farting around in tight skirts.

M: So when the publicist handed the phone over to me, she said, "Please stick to questions about the movie." Are you finding it frustrating, when people want to talk to you about your personal life?

GR: I've got to say, people have been pretty well behaved. I get warned that there's going to be a bombardment of personal questions, but everyone seems to want to talk about the film. Inevitably, though, people ask, "How's the wife?" Which is probably the question I'd ask anyway.

M: Does Madonna have a lot of input into your creative process? Did she give you a lot of pointers while you were making Snatch?

GR: Not really. Obviously, it's important to me what she thinks of it. I want to make something that she respects. But we didn't really work together on it.

Snatch opens Friday, Jan. 19