Interview: Gary McKendry, Director of KILLER ELITE!

What follows is an incredibly frank and insightful interview about the significance of violence, growing up in Belfast, the legitimacy of “The Feather Men”, world issues and the difficulties of making your first feature film.

By Quigs /

Killer Elite is the new action packed thriller by first time filmmaker Gary McKendry that was premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and is out today in the U.K. (my review HERE). One of the main attractive features of the film is the stellar cast attached. Myself and a few other plucky journos€™ were lucky enough to sit at a round table and interview four people related to the film. Here€™s 2 of 4. Gary McKendry is a passionate, fresh director from Ireland. He grew up in the violent city of Belfast, which caused him to grow up pretty fast and view the world in an interesting light. His Oscar nominated short film €œEverything In This Country Must€ is a sublime 20 minute ode to the difficulties between English soldiers and Irish locals and perfectly captures the atmosphere that only someone who grew up in and around such a difficult time, could evoke. He entered the room, seeming far more down to earth and was incredibly friendly, proceeding to have a conversation with us before the interview officially started. He€™s not a star and as he confesses later he€™s still not really used to being in the spotlight so he just enjoys it while he can, because he might not be there again. What follows is an incredibly frank and insightful interview about the significance of violence, growing up in Belfast, the legitimacy of €œThe Feather Men€, world issues and the difficulties of making your first feature film. (As ever our questions in bold, his answers not).
Hey guys, how€™s it going? Nice to meet you!
Good to meet you too.Talking with Clive, the first questions that came up were all about the action sequences and one of the things that occurred to me as we were talking about it, is as an actor, he treats it like a continuous scene, but as a director, you know how you€™re going to cut it. How do you convey that ? How do you convey that to your actors or do you worry about it, because a lot of the pacing and breathlessness is from how you€™ve it together...
Yeah, I think what you do with each actor, you get each one and their individual arc and then you decide how it€™s paced in post. You know, someone said to me today €œ A director has to be ruthless.€ I think, you have to be giving first, then you have to be ruthless and I think when you€™re looking for a performance, you let these guys loose and let them do what they have to do, but then you€™re ruthless afterwards when you€™re sitting in that edit suite and you€™re all alone... That€™s when you get ruthless and some beautiful things hit the floor... But, you€™re not loyal to any one performance, you€™re loyal to the combination of the performances... So, you give a lot, set them free and give them space and then afterwards... You get tough.
How did you get the actors on board?
On this movie?
Yeah. You€™ve got De Niro, Statham AND Owen.
Well, I think it was a domino effect. When you€™re making a movie the first casting is always the hardest and I think the secret to this film was... Jason up front. Jason, I mean, I€™m sure everyone says this, but I€™ve never been here before... I might never be here again... (laughs) Jason was my first choice for the role because the guy Danny, has got a large amount of silence... He can€™t talk to the guys that he wants to get out. He can€™t talk to the girl about his past... So he has no one to talk to, and I think Jason is famous for action, but I think... What draws me to Jason very much is his stillness. I think Jason plays still like... The only person who plays still like him, is actually, a Steve McQueen quality... for me at least. So, Jason came aboard first, but he came on and took the hard role. I think everyone thought he would take the role that Clive took, which is the defender, the hero kind of role. Jason took the other role, which was the unexpected one and that was great. The thing with this film is you don€™t know who€™s the good guy and who€™s the bad guy. That€™s the whole point of the film. You don€™t know who to root for. Really, a lot of people said to me at the end, €œWho was the good guy in that thing?€ and I was like €œGreat.€ That€™s what made it hard to make, so when Jason took that difficult role... it made it a lot easier.
The end is quite open actually...
Yeah, I mean...
Is there a plan?
Oh, for a second movie?
Yeah.
Not consciously. I mean, to be honest... It wasn€™t really. I think, it was open because... I come from Belfast... The true meaning of the story was... When I read this book, I couldn€™t believe the respect that were, like... It was written from the perspective of the killers and they could see themselves in each other. So, they€™re all quite similar characters... It€™s like two sides of the same coin, and for me, when I watched it I was like €œJesus, these guys are so similar!€ Jason is going in this direction wanting to go out and Clive€™s going in another direction wanting to get back in, but really they are the same person. At the end of it, who€™s the hero of the film? You know, I don€™t come from a world where I believe in black and white. I really don€™t, and that€™s what I like about the film. I think at the end of it that€™s the thing that pleases me most that the audience is going €œSo who was the good guy and who was the bad guy?€
So, you come from a world where violence is, first of all, not something that is taken lightly, because it€™s hit every neighbourhood in Belfast at some point during the troubles...
Sure.
And then in addition to that... The people that we normally, in pop culture, would ionize as heroes are really seen as the villains from the perspective of the streets...
Well you use the word €œperspective€. Where I lived in Ireland the SAS were regarded as heroes, for protecting my side of the community, but as you get older, you meet other people and good friends of mine, who regard them as villains... Because they didn€™t want the same results that I wanted. So the one thing you gain in life is perspective. Like the Sheikh. I didn€™t want to vilify the Sheikh in the story, because from the Sheikh€™s perspective, these men came to his country and killed his sons and by his code, they should die. That€™s his law, that€™s his system. We can stand here and judge him and go €œHe€™s a barbarian€ because we€™re Christians... €œHe€™s a barbarian€. But we went to his land and we did that. So, I think, there€™s a thing in the Special forces they call €œBig Boys Rules€ and the idea of €œBig Boys Rules€ is... €œWhen you play Big Boys Games... You play Big Boys Rules.€ In other words... No foul. No tears. You take what you get and you give just as hard. So, they€™ve separated themselves from society... They don€™t expect... You know, they live within a certain code and I think the whole movie is from within the code, that€™s what€™s good and that€™s why I think there€™s no €œgood€ or €œbad€. It all depends on perspective. Like, you could sit there and go €œJason€™s the bad guy€ or equally go €œClive€™s the bad guy€. You know, it€™s up to you. Who do you want to go with?
How close is the film...
To the book?
Yeah, to the book.
You know, it€™s really...
And you know how close is the book to real life?
(Laughs) Well, now you see, there€™s two very big questions there... When I picked it up, what drew me to it was the fact that I looked at it and went €œTrue story? Fantastic! True story? How can this happen?€ Well, as I say, I grew up in Belfast, there€™s plenty of secret societies and political murders and death on the street... (Laughs) Plenty of that where I come from. But you know, at the same time I read this and it was set in London and I was like €œThis is really, really great€. The further we got into it, all we got was... The first book was fact, then I looked at a second edition of it and it said it was fiction... Then I saw an interview with the author where he said: €œIs it fact or is it fiction? Yes it is.€ (Laughs) How does that help me, you know!? So, I began asking questions and we dug deep and we found yes, certain of these guys were killed... No one could say, €œThey were killed for this reason or killed with this simple plot€ but, you know, some people denied it, some people were saying it was definitely true and I think unless you€™re a major politician or a member of MI6 you won€™t know. For me, what I decided was, my big thing wasn€™t €œDid it happen?€ it was: €œCould it happen?€ And that was great because what it did in a certain way was set me free... I€™m not making a documentary. I€™m not interested in a documentary... As you said, I come from a world of violence... I know a fight ends like THAT *snaps his fingers*. It€™s over. You blink? It€™s done. You pull a gun? Somebody€™s dead. That€™s not cinematic, that€™s reality. I don€™t need to pay to go and see reality. It€™s on my television every night... Whether it€™s Iraq, Iran, or Afghanistan... Or Bolivia... You know, it€™s on television every night and you just get tired of it. I wanted to take that story and make it entertainment. I wanted to go back and so, from looking at it from a perspective of €œCould it happen?€ That set me free, to have fun with the story and create something of my own.
The whole story is very reminiscent of these days... The beginning, as you said, it€™s the war...
Yeah! It€™s unbelievable! I mean, you look at what happened in Libya right? The Pan Am explosion, right? You got the Pan Am explosion, the Lockerby bombing, you get, the guy released by the British government... The next day BP gets a contract, right? Now when Libya€™s falling apart the SAS are in there and MI6 are running around trying to get hold of all the papers. That€™s all about oil.
So, our story is 30 years ago and is set in Oman, but it€™s not that different really. Well, how does that surprise anyone?
Exactly! Why would you be surprised? I mean really? Come on!
It€™s people and that€™s what people are. They€™re deceptive, deceitful and they want things.
Yep. And you know the SAS...you know, one of the things I€™d like to say that when doing this film I tried really hard not to vilify the SAS... From my perspective, where I grew up... I€™ve nothing but respect for the SAS and believe me, I took a lot of heat from producers who would€™ve loved to made the SAS baby killers, because that would have made Jason€™s role a lot easier. You could have looked at them and gone: €œOh, they€™re murdering bastards and they had it coming!€ They didn€™t have it coming! They were doing what soldiers do. The Sheikh, his sons were doing what his sons were doing and they were fighting for their country, but it€™s a clash of cultures, and you know what? Nobody was doing the wrong thing, it€™s just about perspective. That€™s what it was about. It€™s always about perspective.
You talked about whether it €œCould€ be done, rather than if it €œWas€ done....
Yeah!
But that also involves getting it right, in terms of the technology and in terms of the strategies... Is the SAS cooperative in this way or do you have to embellish it a little?
All the executions that took place in the film, took place in the book. There was actually a fourth soldier that died, but we trimmed it down. I mean, the hit with the remote control truck? That happened. As a matter of fact if you look at Lady Diana€™s death a lot of people say that Diana€™s death was done by a Boston brakes system. Well, that was the first thing on the internet, its bullshit probably, but it just shows you that it€™s a real technology and is possible. The guy who died on the mountain? Some people say he was poisoned from an injection and died on the mountain from exposure, but other people say that he just died on an exercise. But he died on a mountain, and the other guy... the one with the hammer, they were going to kill him with a hammer and they didn€™t, they ended up booby trapping a helicopter, in the book. So, all three of those are just the same... It€™s not like we€™re inventing a lot of stuff here and people are like: €œThat€™s crazy!€ You know, my guys actually built the remote control system on the truck and it worked. (Laughs)
Do you personally believe in €œThe Feather Men€?
I have been told by a couple of ex SAS guys that there was a secret society, but it wasn€™t called The Feather Men. I€™ve heard there€™s something called... €œThe Scottish Group€... I don€™t know... I don€™t know if there was something called The Feather Men or not... Do I believe?
Yes.
I believe that ex Special Forces guys find it hard to give up... (laughs). I believe, when you€™re the cream of the crop and you€™ve always been told you€™re the best? I think it€™s very hard to walk away from that and find a normal place in the real world, and I€™m sure, you know, originally in the story they were a vigilante force that looked after their own and then this happened and it got out of hand. I think that€™s quite believable. I€™m not saying it happened... I don€™t know... And I don€™t want to know! (Laughs)
So, Killer Elite is your first feature film...
Yeah.
How hard is it nowadays, to get a first feature film out, because you co wrote it as well, so it€™s not like you have a big name behind the camera. You have a big cast, but you had to attract them first...
It€™s very difficult, you know, it wasn€™t meant to be the first one, there was actually a sort of plan... I would do the short, get nominated and then there was this other small Irish thriller that we had done... A beautiful, small story and then I would ease into this film, but the small one fell through with the recession, it just collapsed. So, you know, the one-two-three steps? I just went from one to three... And it€™s pretty scary... I met Saul Zaentz at a festival and I asked him for advice: €œWhat would you say?€ and he said: €œOwnership is everything.€ The thing with this was... I developed this, you know, I optioned the book, came up with the script and got it to Jason, so in many ways... You€™re playing a little role of the €œfirst producer€ kind of thing and then when they came on board, you hand it over to them. That€™s the only way I stayed on board I think is because they couldn€™t get rid of me. (Laughs) I€™m sure they would have loved to. Haha.
How are you dealing with being here at the festival, in Toronto?
It€™s kind of interesting, because I€™ve been at this festival a couple of times... I€™ve been sitting in the terraces... (laughs) and you know, not in the pit... And now, I€™m in the arena, it€™s quite different you know? It€™s interesting, it€™s your first movie... You€™ve only so much power... You know? When you€™ve made a movie, and some of the things you€™re defending...Aren€™t your choice... (laughs) You can only have so much power when you make your first movie... You don€™t have final cut... You don€™t have a lot of things...
Is this the sort of film you would like to do more of? Action with drama and some politics?
I€™m more interested in the thriller aspect of it and I think for me, the violence comes from the story. A story about violent men... So the violence is just an extension of the character and that€™s why it€™s so important for me that the guys did their own action... You know, that€™s why it was so important that in those fight scenes it was Jason and Clive. Otherwise, that€™s quite hard to stage. You know, it€™s an extension of who they are... I know that€™s why they wanted to do it. That€™s certainly why Clive was interested, because he lives his life as a violent man in a violent part of society, so he had to do that in those fight scenes and that was essential... But you know, I€™m not really interested in €œbig€ action movies... I€™m more interested in the thriller part of it... This just happened to be a very violent thriller... (laughs)
Gary McKendry, thanks for your time!
Thanks guys, pleasure to meet you all!
Killer Elite is in cinema's now. Our review HERE.