Director James Hawes on Apple TV’s slow-burning spy thriller “Slow Horses”: “It’s dark and flatulent”

A six-part miniseries on Apple TV slow horsesAdapted from Mick Heron’s novels of the same name, it came out on April 1 with a hit or two and immediately stopped viewers waiting, who decided to rate the remaining four episodes weekly. “It was Apple’s decision,” said director James House. “But judging by the response I’ve received, the expectations it has created are fantastic. People call me and say, ‘Why are you doing this? I wanted to finish it by the weekend! ‘ The biggest compliment you can get is that people are asking for more and Now. “

Starring Gary Oldman as confused spy Jackson Lamb, the series is about the low-ranking exploits of British intelligence. The show begins with a bang, then moves into a lazy world, filled with agents like Jack Lowden River Cartwright, who have made big mistakes and spend a lot of time at the clearing house to pay them. This is a challenging arena in a world more accustomed to heroic heroism. ᲛIsia is impossible And Bond, but the critics liked it. “It was great,” Hawes says. “I can’t say that there is no relief, because two years of my life have passed and if it had been otherwise it would have been very depressing. But what is surprising is the positive number of responses, the number of people who liked and participated in the series, as well as the global access to the program. There are reviews from all over the world and it seems people are catching up. It landed incredibly hard. “

As a result, viewers won’t have to wait long to revisit Lamb and his London office. “Apple has already shot the next six,” Hawes reveals, “and they will be out later this year. And there are high hopes and intentions that there will be many more seasons in the near future.”

Deadline spoke to Hawes in the middle of the show’s first season.

Deadline: where did the project start?

Giacomo’s house: See-Saw contacted me and sent me the script. Gary was clearly riding. Several other actors were on the scene looking for their main director. This is the process that happens on television: respond to the material, how you see it, how you think, what is the key. I met them several times, got on board with enthusiasm and got my hands on the script. [the screenwriter] Will Smith. One of the best things about working on See-Saw is that directors are treated like directors. And it’s not about greatness, it’s about being very, very firmly attached to the center of the creative process. So you are there, hand in hand, with the producers and the screenwriter as the lead author of the shoot. It was immensely empowering and Will and I formed a particularly strong alliance throughout the process. It was about a month before the first closure. [Laughs] So the timing was perfect!

Deadline: how were you chosen?

hawes: We think a lot about the ensemble. And there have been several castings for couples. We literally met a couple of potential actors as a duo for the chemical casting. We wanted the casting to be equally distinctive. We needed actors who had the ability to shoot direct drama but also had a sense of comic timing and timing to make this little comedy. And then it was really building this ensemble, picking people like Saskia Reeves, who I worked with 20 years ago, who is a very good actor, someone who could carry the whole story and gravity and who that would be. An actor who could work with Gary on stage and nurture her genius and inform her with his own genius. I think we did and it was exciting. In the end, I don’t think we have a pen note. [Laughs] Says, a little cocky!

Deadline: What sparked Gary Oldman’s interest?

hawes: Gary would say it’s obvious: this is a script. I also loved the books because Mick Heron created so much depth, levels and story for his characters. So Will and the writing team weren’t able to put exactly what’s on the page with such precision, but there’s the promise that more research will be done on the novels and on these characters’ feet – the journey of these characters. personages. The eight existing novels. So I guess he was excited about that. I know that he, like me, was fascinated by this tone, which is indeed a compelling development of the British espionage genre. The reviews, which were awkwardly embarrassing, all agreed with the terms of the show. With very few exceptions, people understand that this is absolutely in line with the legacy of Ian Fleming and John Le Carré and Len Dayton, but with this slight twist and a modern twist.

Deadline: Is there any basis for the truth in it? How much research have you done?

hawes: I’ll answer the research question a second time because the first answer is actually Mick Heron’s answer, which is that Le Carre could write a spy thriller because he was a spy, but Mick Heron knew how to write a spy thriller because he did . Read Le Carré and come to experience it. Indeed, as any UK intelligence expert will tell you, there are all sorts of inaccuracies, but I think the fact that you can believe them demonstrates how good I am at building a world that makes it feel like a cohesive world. That you somehow believe in the chain of command. Believe in some crazy schemes devised by them. And indeed, we have a former intelligence officer, as a consultant, for a period of time, educating the actors on the surveillance work they were doing, talking about what it feels like to be a spy. And he was able to tell us, “Well, besides, we’re doing these crazy schemes.” It is not only necessary to strengthen one’s ambitions, but also from the first history of the security services, gather information or capture any organization. This is exactly what they do.

Deadline: As you said, London is a very important character in this story …

hawes: Some of these are confirmed once again by the novels, as Mick Heron placed them in this particular row of houses facing the barbecue. I went with the design and location team and this area really has a lot of properties. There’s everything here, from corner shops and Italian restaurants to Airbnb, so we couldn’t use it as a whole. I liked the idea that the upstairs was once owned by a lawyer who probably demolished it in the 1970s and did an Escher-style conversion. So the production designer came up with a set that responded to the outside architecture and created this very bunny interior. But to answer the question of a larger place, I wanted London to be a strong character in this matter, and I wanted to be London, which was an alley, under the bridges, between the tracks. – Tracks are some kind of place. So we have created a world that I think is compatible. It’s a kind of space that feels like everyday London and not gorgeous tourist London.

Deadline: The series has a very tired pace. Apple commented?

hawes: The fact is, as a team, we tested this stress and immediately verified it through editing. I think it’s an adult show. I think people who enter this genre expect to be treated like intelligent viewers, and that takes a certain conspiracy and leads the audience to expose layers in small works. So I really wanted not to overwrite to allow the audience to feel engaged and experienced in their own intelligence, but also very self-sufficient based on the characters. And it invites you to breathe. It’s not just about hellish fiction in leather. Yes, it will be and it will accelerate as the seasons go by, but the main thing in this is these characters with very round stories, quirks, interdependencies and I think it allows you to get to know them better. Maybe a big screen rhythm.

Deadline: Did you use spy movies as a reference? Or was it just a fact?

hawes: Yes. Very soon we made a 40 page visual document on how we were going to sell the program. And it includes films that have been a source of inspiration for us. And they include some obvious things like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy And also some excellent European spy thrillers like the life of others. But it seems to me that there is a three-phase story in the intelligence thriller. It’s the British era of James Bond and Len Dayton, later picked up by the Americans and turned into a conspiratorial thriller: Every president man, Three days of Condor, parallax view … And then somehow we recover it, above all [British] On TV [shows like] ᲡOct of Y game condition. so we gave slow horses The color palette that permeates American and European films of the 70’s and 80’s. He was very aware, he seems to have a story. It was really an attempt to visually build the legacy of these movies and shows and make me feel true to the genre.

Deadline: the show’s theme song is certainly surprising …

hawes: About a very specific thing slow horses it’s Tony – he moves between a true thriller with real stakes and people dying, almost instantly, between a very dark humor that is a crucial part of his DNA. Making this investment can be very specific. We have a big cinematic opening, and then we take a rather sharp turn in a different key, which is the life of the “slow horses” themselves, with all their dirt and flatulence. I thought a long time ago, “I think the song is going to be really good in the first few subtitles, which will help us spoil the tone and avoid the danger that settles in the opening sequence.” Something to say: “Guys, something else is going on here.”

Deadline: How did you force Mick Jagger to do this?

hawes: This is a very British and very London show, so I only had one name in mind: Mick Jagger, because he could talk about anything. And I had the feeling that I needed a special approach to the poems that the poet Mick could bring to this work. So what happened was music director Catherine Greaves and composer Daniel Pemberton, and I thought I’d go ahead and go to him and see what happened. Daniel wrote the melody, a very bluesy, swinging melody, and Will Smith and I created a page that we thought was about the original song: the idea of ​​a second chance, a way back and “I don’t want to be a loser for lifetime.” life. “We sent him this and a short trailer. Next thing we knew, it was a very magical moment, just before Christmas, when Daniel called me:” You have to go somewhere where you can listen to the recording right now. And he sent me the first sketch he did of Mickey Mouse. On your iPhone. It was one of those moments where he held back because it was just amazing. He conquered the show, he conquered the characters. he had read all the books, so he did some research as a lyricist and composer. The author, as he used to do, already had it in his bag. I’m very proud of it. I think this is a great success of the program.