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He was dismissed as a
drunk for being too convincing in Fear And Loathing. Now with Way Of The
Gun, Benicio Del Toro takes a sobering look at violence
Benicio Del Toro's mumbling
hood, Fenster, was killed off early in The Usual Suspects, but the actor
made enough of an impression for critics to complain about his lack of
screen time. To show there are no hard feelings, Del Toro has reteamed with
Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie for his directorial debut, The Way Of
The Gun. It marks part of a return to form for Del Toro, who has hardly been
seen since Terry Gilliam's Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. He's also coming
up in Ken Loach's Bread And Roses, and Steven Soderbergh's eagerly awaited
Traffic.
So, how did you and Chris
get together on this?
We were in some coffee shop, talking about the pros and cons of doing films
for the big studios, and at some point we said, "Hey, why don't we do our
own little movie?" I've always thought Chris was a natural-born director.
But wasn't he considering
leaving the movie business because he was unable to get a movie made?
Yeah, he was having one of those days where you feel like you're completely
disconnected from the world. He definitely wanted to make a comment about
where he stands with The Way Of The Gun. There is a lot of stuff in it about
how he feels about people in Hollywood and the big studios. Like there's a
scene where my character is sitting down with Jimmy Caan, and they talk
about how criminals today are all for the posture. That's like saying
film-makers, studios, and movies today are all about the package and not
about substance.
Is that how you also feel?
Until your cameo in Snatch, we hadn't seen you for a while.
After Fear And Loathing I got turned down a couple of times because people
said I was a drunk. I even heard from a friend of mine that people thought I
was in rehab. They looked at the performance and thought, "The guy's gone
crazy. Look how fat he got, and how fucked up he is in the movie." I think
that influenced people in the industry to make certain decisions.
The Way Of The Gun is one of
several crime films you've done. What attracts you to the genre?
I'm not necessarily attracted to crime films, I think it's just the way the
cookie crumbles. Hunter [S Thompson] said I have a guilty face. One thing I
was interested in doing with The Way Of The Gun, though, was making a crime
film where nothing's glamourised. It would be painful and more realistic.
Kinda old school.
Despite the violence, the
film appears to be offering an anti-gun message.
I think it does. The way we handle guns in the film, we wanted to treat them
serious. I went to school in weapons for that film, and I think anyone who's
going to own a gun should do the same. Then you decide whether you want to
get one or not.
The message of the film
seems to have been missed by a lot of American critics.
Yeah, completely. All they saw was a violent movie, and they didn't like it.
But I think it's a smart film, too, for a more mature audience. In America
it was marketed like it was for early-20s/teenagers but it's kind of like a
film for an older generation. It's straight to the point. It's not flashy
and I'm very proud of that.
So, what do you think about
guns in movies generally?
We've done a lot of films with weapons that make people laugh, like Pulp
Fiction, and they're fun. But now I think you should teach something. Those
things have the power of God. You can just turn the lights off any time you
want. I think the law should say: "If you want to play with guns in the
movies, show me the horror." |