From the "People" Archives:

by Anthony Kaufman

(indieWIRE/10.30.00) -- Beginning with a critic's prize at Venice in 1997, Shane Meadows' debut film "TwentyFourSeven" garnered several awards on the international festival circuit, receiving acclaim for Meadow's direction, Paul Fraser's script, Ashley Rowe's elegant black and white cinematography, and Bob Hoskins's strong performance as an amateur boxing coach for a gang of reckless Midlands lads. The film screened at the New York Film Festival, along with Meadows' short, "Where's the Money, Ronnie?" and was distributed in the U.S. by October Films. It was the kind of attention that a first time filmmaker dreams about.

Then at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival, a surprising, subtle British coming-of-age drama called "A Room for Romeo Brass" premiered with little of the fanfare of "TwentyFourSeven." Gone were the cries of eureka, the calls of discovery -- because, after all, the film's proficiency was expected; "Romeo Brass" was directed by Shane Meadows.

Though the film will probably get less attention -- there's no cool black and white stock, no name actor buoying the movie from obscurity -- "Romeo Brass" is probably the better film. With genuine performances from youngsters Andrew Shim and Ben Marshall, Meadows captures this semi-autobiographical tale of growing up with assured, sensitive authenticity. There's nothing flashy here, just some great characters and performances, particular debuting actor Paddy Considine, who plays Morell, an endearing psycho. From the moment he swaggers on screen and speaks in his drawn-out donkey-like banter, Considine leaps off the screen -- just too damn real to be acting.

indieWIRE's Anthony Kaufman recently spoke with Meadows about the difference between his first and second movies, working-class British movies, and Considine, whom he calls "the most talented actor in our country right now." "A Room for Romeo Brass" opened last weekend in New York and Los Angeles via USA Films.

indieWIRE: I must confess, I like this movie more than "TwentyFourSeven."

When I think I was 23-years-old, I mean, Jesus, I look at ["TwentyFourSeven"], and think, Christ, you knew nothing and you made a feature film and it works.

Shane Meadows: So many people have said that. From a filmmaker's point of view, it's harder for me with this one, because it's about myself, so in a way, it's really nice to hear that response. Because when it's about your own life, you run the risk of dropping a real bullock, because what you think is important, other people might sit there and go, ŒYeah, whatever.'

iW: They are very different movies, structurally and cinematically. How did you make the leap?

Meadows: It was quite simple, really. If I made 10 films, it would probably explain itself, because with each film, I would hope as a director to find whatever's right for that film. With "TwentyFourSeven," it all comes from a book. This kid finds a diary and he's imagining the story. So there's tracking shots, and certain things I used on that film to reflect the passage of time. If I put the whole cinematic look of black and white on this film, it would have seemed just like an obtrusive angle. So in "Romeo Brass," I tried a few tracking shots between the houses. We knocked the walls down between the houses, so you could do more complicated things. It wasn't going to work. It looked like an expensive soap opera as opposed to an atmospheric and honest study of childhood -- this can't and won't take any tricks. And I pre-planned that all of the scenes with violence in the film were shot as clinically and simply as possible. Whereas with "TwentyFourSeven," the camera was always moving.

indieWIRE: I wonder when you start off as a filmmaker, you feel like you have to prove something. In "TwentyFourSeven," you have this beautiful black and white cinematography and fluid camera work. And here, it's like, hey, I don't have to do that.

Meadows: You're probably right. I did what I thought was right for the film, but I probably wouldn't and couldn't have made this film first. This film would have suffered had it been made first, because I would have tried gadgets. I'm a gadget master. I had been doing tracking shots on my short films, on the back of a van, out of car windows, on the back of wheelie-bins. Suddenly, there are people building tracks like they're building railroads. I love "TwentyFourSeven," and when I think I was 23-years-old, I mean, Jesus, I look at that, and think, Christ, you knew nothing and you made a feature film and it works. But the bottom line is, I did what I thought was best for the film with a stronger confidence. In a funny way, it probably doesn't stand as good a chance commercially.

I'm looking at a longer path and a body of work, rather than thinking I want the next one to elevate me, I want to come to America, I want to win awards. Bob Hoskins in "TwentyFourSeven," that combination with black and white, won awards. It kept winning things. With this, because it's so honest, people almost don't appreciate it. It's quite difficult to get something to feel that simple. The editing of it took such a long time, any tricks that were applied or anything that was just slightly above the believability of the story, it didn't work. That took a lot more crafting than what appears to be a crafted movie.

indieWIRE: There is this tradition in Britain of working-class movies, were you thinking of that, at all, when making "Romeo Brass"?

Meadows: Gritty, yeah. It's sort of impossible to quantify what impression something has or hasn't made on you. Yes, this film sits in that bracket. But I think what separates it and makes my films different is that I come from the area that I'm making the films about. I grew up with those people. Especially Romeo Brass -- what that kid goes through. I saw every inch of that myself. I stood watching a guy stamp another guy's face into the ground and I couldn't stop it. I was 12. And so, when you've got that, there's a grain that gets put into your work that's real. I don't go back to any politics -- the film doesn't reflect on any strike, or anything in the background. From that point of view, it's honest.

Secondly, though, there is that tradition of filmmaking that comes from Britain that is probably ingrained somewhere down inside me. But there's bigger films in me. I've made two films that are very different from each another. The third I'm making is set in the same area and it will end a trilogy of movies from that lifetime. And then I'm going to move on. So hopefully, my career will be better charted in maybe 4 or 5 years. I've got a lot of different things within me, but I think it will always lean towards the human. Which tends to be, when you're from Britain and it's realistic and the performances are the way that I get them, I'll probably always be anchored to that tradition.

indieWIRE: Let's talk about those performances. When I first saw Paddy Considine, who plays Morell, I thought, this guy couldn't be an actor. This has got to be someone he knows. He is too incredible of a character. . .

I try to apply that family atmosphere to every thing that I do, so when people are actually on the set, they are confident; they are relaxed, they know that I'm not going to shout at them. It's about making people confident.

Meadows: Have you heard of a film called "The Last Resort"?

indieWIRE: Yeah, Pawel Pawlikowski's film; it won some awards. . .

Meadows: He plays the lead in that, a romantic lead, so he came off of the back of this to do that. And he wasn't an actor. He was a photographer. I knew him when I was in college with him. He used to do these performances. There was this Cockney guy named Les, and Paddy could take him on [mimic], but better than the guy. It's like fucking Hell, he can just mold his face. He has this plastic face. So he did the audition for the film and I know he had the humor, and I know he could do the strangeness of this guy, but the psychotic edge, I didn't know if he was capable of it. My belief is that, if say, Gary Oldman or some old school British actor had played Morell, they would have won an award for it. Because he [Paddy] is so convincing, you just think he's someone you found in a field. It's a shame that this was his first film, really, because if he played a romantic lead first and then did this, people would appreciate the range that he has. Without building him up too much, I think he's the most talented actor in our country right now, because of his potential. He's a best friend of mine, now, and we hang out and go to the gym and we just made a 70-minute program called "Shane's World," where he plays all the characters, which will hopefully get released. The Film Four website will release some bits and pieces in October or November, and then it will be released on DVD. Sundance wants to show it. San Francisco wants to show it. It's trying to inspire people to make short films. I play a few characters in it, as well.

indieWIRE: Can you talk more about your working with actors, and getting such genuine performances out of non-actors?

Meadows: Basically, I started working with a group of friends in England. I was on the dole and I was working as a volunteer in a film rental house, cabling up edit suites and I just started working really hard. I had never done that before. I was always a lazy shit. And they started lending me camcorders over the weekend. So I started making shorts solely by myself, so I'm setting the camera up and playing this guy and that guy, and because they were so lame, because there were so many mistakes, they had their own humor. And once a month, I started to make a film and then more and more people wanted to get involved. So that was my college -- that was my training. So when I go on to make a feature film, all I know is this community spirit of making films where people are working for nothing and you're doing it together. And I do continue to try to apply that family atmosphere to every thing that I do.

When I take an actor onboard, three or four months before the shoot, we meet weekly or bi-weekly and spend the week together before shooting, people come to our house and have meals, so when people are actually on the set, they are confident; they are relaxed, they know that I'm not going to shout at them. It has it downsides, because you get close to people, from time to time, you're all too close. But the bottom line is, it's about making people confident. I show them "TwentyFourSeven," they think this guy can do that with me and he believes in me. Whereas if you use all professional actors, there's usually an element of competition. So the way I do it is hopefully through a family, community environment.

indieWIRE: So what are you doing now?

Meadows: Well, I haven't started writing it, but the starting point is a man just released from prison who's a boxer, who has spent the prime years of his life for killing somebody in a bar room fight. It's based on a true story of a boxer who was about to turn professional and a kid came up to him and wanted to try his luck with him. So we're developing a film about this guy coming back and wanting to see his kid; his wife's got remarried (Paddy's going to play the step-Dad), and it's what he has to face in that community. It's all about how if you refuse to use violence how you can still get what you want. It's going to be Film Four.

indieWIRE: So do you feel you can pretty much get the funding you need without much problem?

Meadows: I can make a film quite easily at a certain level. But there's always a period of strapping around contracts and all that kind of stuff, but I always feel it's going to be made. I won't stop until I've made it. The energy with which I go to meetings and the way I talk about the films, they sound like "why aren't we making this tomorrow?" It's not so bad at the moment, because I've made two critically successful films now. People have said, this film may be quite small, but we believe at some point, if we have a relationship with you, the talent that you show, there's going to be one story that hits that note that everyone wants to see, and when it happens, we want to be a part of that. So some people who are involved with me, it's not that they think the films don't have worth, but they're kind of investing not expecting a huge payback, but they're investing in me as a person, which really gives me a lot of confidence.