October 20, 2001

Shooting in Malta like `home away from home`

- Interview with Guy Ritchie, director of Love, Sex, Drugs and Money
- by Fiona Galea Debono of The Times of Malta

"The locals are just plain fun" - Guy Ritchie

A spontaneous round of applause breaks out as the last scene to be shot in Malta of the movie Love, Sex, Drugs and Money is completed. Amid organised commotion, its acclaimed British director and writer Guy Ritchie sinks into the sidelines and tells The Times of the "successful" experience and importance of camaraderie on the set.

The word "fun" is emphasised, and is clearly a priority. Ritchie wants to "have fun" while he`s working. "It`s more important than anything," he says, insisting that an "understanding among people" guarantees an "easier ride" and also a better end result.

That understanding seems to have been achieved during the three-week shoot of the low-budget, romantic drama in Malta. The Ska Films movie has just about wrapped, and Ritchie is already contemplating his next major project - the epic Great Siege - on the island.

Ska Films intends to shoot the movie here for "numerous, obvious" reasons, including the water tanks at the Mediterranean Film Studios, the fact that Malta is the authentic backdrop to the 1565 Great Siege, and that extras would be available at "not too high a price".

Ultimately, it would be a financial decision, and would also depend on whether Malta had an area large enough to recreate Fort St Angelo and St Elmo.

Ritchie agrees that producing a movie on Christianity versus Islam may not be the most feasible during the current war against terrorism. The production company was intending to get going in May, shooting the exteriors between then and August. But, it`s "a bit dodgy" now due to the current situation and the movie`s somewhat sensitive theme.

Nevertheless, Ritchie is "certainly" producing the Great Siege. "I`ve spent a year or so writing it... It`s a major, major movie... If we don`t do it this year, we`ll do it the next.

"It`s there. It`s the writing process that I hate; the filming I rather enjoy. I`ve done all the writing, plus it`s a great story, so I intend to do something with it."

Now, it`s time for the "fun" part.

The historian in the director has done his homework, with the helpful intervention of a number of Maltese. "Historically, it`s as accurate as I could possibly make it, while being a compelling narrative simultaneously."

It`s not surprising that in Malta as a tourist, Ritchie was interested mainly in the "siege side of things", so it has been mostly the historical and cultural sites that have caught his eye.

Back to the current movie, filming of which ended on schedule in Malta yesterday, Ritchie says Love, Sex, Drugs and Money is really a "filler".

"We were all set to go into pre-production with the movie on the Great Siege." Then there was a standing period, and the romantic drama came along to "fill in the gap".

In essence, Love, Sex, Drugs and Money is not a complicated movie to shoot, says its director, and the lads seemed to have a good time working on it.

"What has really rendered the ride in Malta a fairly easy one is the fact that the locals share the same fundamentally Anglo-Saxon humour as the boys back home - a good thing for my crew.

"The Maltese are trustworthy, Malta is inexpensive and the labour is good. Not only that, the locals are just plain fun. It`s been a case of home away from home here."

About the facilities, Ritchie says the Rinella water tanks are "extremely good", and that shooting Love, Sex, Drugs and Money anywhere else would have been a "nightmare".

"It would have been worth coming to Malta for the tanks alone," he categorically states.

But there are other advantages to filming here, he says, including the fact that the island is not too big and nothing is too far away. The production was also blessed with ideal weather conditions - many of the scenes were shot out at sea, aboard a luxurious, 40-metre, classic yacht, as well as on Comino, the Vittoriosa Wharf and in the Rinella water tanks.

The only feature that Malta lacked to film the entire movie here was "lushness" and greenery. And that is the reason why cast and crew are flying out to Sardinia for another three-week shoot today.

"Sardinia is a beautiful Mediterranean island, but Malta`s infrastructure is by and large great, and the people are trust-worthy, which is quite rare in the Mediterranean.

"All my crew have spoken very highly of the local workers."

Together with the future Great Siege, Love, Sex, Drugs and Money is worlds apart from Ritchie`s previous innovative, gangster flicks, which he also directed and scripted and which saw him shoot to fame. His directorial debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000) were both commercial and critical successes.

But he clarifies: "I was never necessarily and particularly interested in gangster films. I just thought it was a good place to start. Once I made the first film (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and it was a success, I wanted to confirm it with a second.

"I wanted to learn to walk before I could run, so I stayed in the same vein. It`s not because I was particularly interested in that vein though.

"I just want to cover as many of the many genres I`m interested in as possible, including kids` films, romantic movies and epics. And I intend to make each film as disparate as I can from the last. Just because I directed two gangster movies initially, I don`t think the audience expects me to stay that way."

So, what`s it like working with the wife?

"Solid gold!"

Ritchie, 10 years Madonna`s junior and with whom he has a one-year-old son, Rocco, has already produced a music video and a short film with her.

"I decided to do Love, Sex, Drugs and Money because I got on so well with her doing the other two. She`s a real pro and doesn`t mess around like some actors can."

A no-nonsense type, Madonna, who stars as pampered, rich Amber on a Mediterranean cruise, has a good laugh with the crew, which is predominantly male. She is easy to work with, and consequently things have worked out well, says her husband.

"We get on extremely well workwise", but that is not to say that there are any concrete plans for Madonna to star in any of Ritchie`s upcoming movies. "I don`t know," he says. "We`ll wait and see."

But, who wears the trousers in the relationship?

Ritchie is not too prompt with his reply this time and throws the question back: "Who do you think?"

The somewhat timely rise in volume of the drilling and hammering in the background offers him time to contemplate...

"I don`t know," is his simple, but diplomatic reply.