him apart from every other actor is that he has got no ego and on the job you want people that are selfiess. up for the job. want to do it and not worry about what their best side is or anything.‘ He spent a month in Marbella. Spain. writing the screenplay for The Business. soon after the release of The Football l‘aetory. In typically brash style Love says: 'I think I‘ve been quite shrewd in getting the film out of London and making it in a cinematic country. Spain is a very colourful place. But I still kept it as a very British movie. The 80s were my big informative years and the starting point for the film was the music and the fashion. I wanted to pay homage to the 80s fashion and music. I‘ve always grown up thinking I’m a sharp guy. and in the past it was in
vogue to be very cynical about the 80s and say that it was all shitty hairdos and dreadful synthesizer-pop music. but I think the film shows a different side. The basis of the story was the fact that there were a lot of criminals down in Spain in the 80s.‘
Love makes good use of the British political scene and most prominently the image of Margaret Thatcher. During the l97()s a squabble over land ownership of Gibraltar led to a breakdown in British and Spanish relations. with the odd result that Spain became a haven for British criminals. ()n the subject of the Iron Lady. Love waxes lyrical: ‘The characters are living the Thatcher dream: they go out there to be someone and live that dream. I think that the rise
‘I CAN'T DENY THAT I THOUGHT THATCHER WAS QUITE COOL'
and the fall of the characters mirrors the rise and fall of Thatcher in the fact that she had the world at her feet and she blew it and. like the characters. there was a certain insanity in her and a certain genius in what she was trying to do. I can‘t deny that I thought that she was quite cool.’
With this attitude. it’s no wonder Love sees cinema as being not just about art. but commerce too. The Business. like The Football F(l(‘f()l'_\‘. was made by British upstart production company Vertigo Films. Alongside producers Allan Niblo. James Richardson and Rupert Preston. Love is a proprietor of the company that has been rewriting the book on UK cinema and DVD distribution.
‘Vertigo came about after a lot of dissatisfaction with the film business and a fair amount of resentment and there is nothing like those two emotions to kick you into gear. We decided to try and change the game a bit. The Football l'aetorv was less than half a million quid and The Business under two. ()ur biggest thing was that people are spending so much money to make film. They never recoup their money because they’re so expensive to make. We jtrst thought that if we try and make the filrn for a real price then they stand a chance of making their money back and. in the case of The Football l‘aetory. make a killing.‘
Next year [.ove intends to take this cost cutting method to the extreme by making two films back to back to keep the cost of crew and equipment to a minimum. Love him. loathe him or both. Nick Love is going to be a key figure in British film.
General release, Fri 2 Sep. World premiere: Edinburgh Film Festival Closing Night Film, Cineworld, 0131 653 8030, Sat 27 Aug, 9pm & 9.30pm, £10.45 (£7.70)
Www " * .. .1 i.“ H
_'.- "
9:") Aug 8 Sop 200:3 THE LIST 7