Adrian Vitoria
Adrian Vitoria has made only his second feature length movie with Age of Heroes, which is out on DVD this week.
The movie brings together a great cast of Sean Bean, Danny and James D’Arcy - who takes on the role of Bond writer Ian Fleming.
I caught up with Vitoria to talk about the new movie, the inspiration behind it and what lies ahead.
- Age Of Heroes is about to be released on DVD so can you tell me a bit about the movie?
It’s a story about one of the formations of a British commando unit, set during the Second World War, and about their attempt to go and acquire radar technology from the Germans.
- The movie is loosely based on the real-life events of Ian Fleming's 30 Commandos during World War II…
I would say that it is inspired - if I had had a bigger budget and more time then I would probably have been able to make the true story of the 30 Commandos; but as it was we had a limited budget and a limited time to make the film.
The whole idea behind it was the inspiration of the British Commandos and my idea had always been that we would portray the British Commandos as having been involved in the Second World War - a lot of American movie tend to sideline the idea that the British had been involved in the war.
It was really bring back the sense of thumbs up to the British - they were involved from the beginning and they did a lot of dangerous work that should be applauded.
- So what was it about their particular story that enticed you into making the movie?
I have always been someone who has studied military history and I have always been fascinated with this period, I suppose it is my generation.
I use to go to the Chelsea Pensioner’s home years ago and talk to old soldiers - through my grandparents I would meet these soldiers - as a kid I was intrigued by the story telling of those particular commando units.
So for me as a director… if any director was asked if they wanted to do a war movie they would jump at it and someone, like myself, they would be a little hesitant because you are up against something like Saving Private Ryan - which had an extraordinary healthy budget and you are looking at your independent budget and asking ‘how can we compete?’
The idea for me was we can’t really compete as a full on action movie but maybe we can readdress the idea that the British were involved in the Second World War and because I have a knowledge of that period and British Commando units I thought it would be interesting to portray those units and look at their legacy - which is what we have today in Afghanistan.
- Well you have sort of touched on my next question really what sort of research did you do as you developed the script and the film?
The research was things that I had known of and things that had inspired me as well as people that ad inspired me - Ian Fleming was certainly someone has a young man I had read the Bond books but I was also fascinated with his history, background and his time in the intelligence service.
If I could be involved in something where I could portray these great people, and I mean that meaning the commando unit of that period, it was certainly going to be a challenge but certainly something I wanted, if we were going to do it, to tell a good story.
As I said we could never go down the road of being on the nose factually correct on every aspect because we are making a movie and if we go down the road of being accurate it would have been a much longer shoot with a much bigger budget. We are story tellers and we try to do the best that we can and make the most entertaining product that we can - but also people might be inspired to look up and read a little about that period.
- You have touched on the fact that this is an independent project so how difficult was it getting this project off the ground and ultimately made?
It was fraught with problems. Making a movie in the United Kingdom… I take my hat off to anyone who gets a movie made because it is very difficult as you are asking people to hand over a lot of money for you to go and make a film.
With this particular film we had a very limited budget, which meant it was huge undertaking for us, we were suffering with lack of bullets so we were limited to how many bullets we could fire in the film, we were limited to how many explosions we could have in the film - and everyone who is involved wants you to make the best movie that you can make.
Everyone hopes that you will make great action movie but the reality is you are trying to make the best movie that you can and you know that you are limited to how much action you can put in the movie - if I had gone and said ‘I’m making this as an action film from beginning to end’ I would have needed a lot more money.
I was very fortunate to have fifteen or sixteen members of the military, they played my German soldiers, they were remarkable, I got them from an organisation called Force Select; a charity for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, they were as keen as mustard to be involved and they were brilliant.
They looked like the real deal because they were from the military, but I only had seventeen of them - so that was a challenge when you are trying to make a battle scene. It was a challenge fro beginning to end.
- Sean Bean and Danny Dyer were on board so can you talk me through the casting process - did you pen the script with certain people in mind?
I penned the script with Sean and Danny, when I had first been approached to make the film those names were mentioned and I’m a fan of both Sean and Danny.
Rosie Fellner I thought of certainly but it was really who would play Ian Fleming? That was the big one. There were a number of faces for that part. But it was really just about writing a good story and maybe encourage a little bit of education along the way.
- I was wondering what it was you saw in James D’Arcy that led you to cast him as Ian Fleming?
I think everything that I have read of Ian Fleming; educated, smart, a charmer, these things with James are very similar. He is a very smart young man as well as a dashing young man and a very good actor - and with his acting he has a charm so he fit’s the part very nicely.
- And what sort of training did you put the cast through before filming started?
We sent them down with Andy Buckley of the Royal Marine Commando Unit and got them some education from that.
Then we had a major from the parachute regiment as my military advisor and a number of background artists, my German soldier were all ex-military and so they would keep the actors on their toes every single day.
The great thing was the actors took it all on board very seriously and they were very serious about holding their weapons correctly and moved properly as a unit and during the battle sequences, we were never going to go down the road of trying to be Rambo, we were trying to make it as authentic as possible under the circumstances.
So the military boys would make sure that our actors were on their toes and doing everything correctly - which the actors took on board and thoroughly enjoyed.
- The story takes the unit from the Highlands of Scotland to Norway so where did you film the movie? Towards the end of the film the commandos find themselves in Norway so what challenges did you face filming in the snow?
The majority of the movie was shot in Norway - we shot Scotland in Norway and we shot Norway in Norway (laughs). We shot the opening of the movie with Danny, which is supposed to be France, in Epping Forest.
(laughs) How do you describe -15, 6 or 7 feet or snow, it threw everything at us really. At times I felt I was on a wildlife shoot because it would take fifteen to twenty minutes to move the camera from one area to another that was five or six feet away because it was tough going.
Everyone is cold; the actors, the crew, the camera operators - we would quite often have a lot of hot sun but it was still cold and then it would go extremely cloudy and a blizzard would come; and then you have the issue of continuity.
So you are really up against it everyday with the weather - but I was very keen on if the script said these guys trudged through snow that I didn’t make a path for them I wanted to see them struggle through the snow. So that’s what I threw at them and they really rose to the challenge.
- This is only your second feature film so how have you found the transition from TV into movies?
These days TV, I have been very lucky to work in TV and different production companies, you are always making something that is a well known programme or already has its boundaries and you follow a particular story line and style.
But with film I have been given the chance to do my thing and be more of the author, if you like, of what I’m doing.
Making movies and making TV are very similar these days because you have very little time to do either - you are shooting a lot of footage in a very short space of time.
I think with film you hope at the end of the day you can get the product that you can look at and say this is me, this is mine, we managed to pull that off - that’s what makes me keep wanting to make movies and write movies; to tell stories good stories if you can.
- Finally what's next for you?
Good question (laughs). At the moment I am writing a movie called Black Money, which was announced at Cannes, and it’s something that I will probably do at the end of the year. But I have got to make sure that the script is in good condition - I’m doing that with Manmade Films and James Barker.
Age of Heroes is out on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Adrian Vitoria has made only his second feature length movie with Age of Heroes, which is out on DVD this week.
The movie brings together a great cast of Sean Bean, Danny and James D’Arcy - who takes on the role of Bond writer Ian Fleming.
I caught up with Vitoria to talk about the new movie, the inspiration behind it and what lies ahead.
- Age Of Heroes is about to be released on DVD so can you tell me a bit about the movie?
It’s a story about one of the formations of a British commando unit, set during the Second World War, and about their attempt to go and acquire radar technology from the Germans.
- The movie is loosely based on the real-life events of Ian Fleming's 30 Commandos during World War II…
I would say that it is inspired - if I had had a bigger budget and more time then I would probably have been able to make the true story of the 30 Commandos; but as it was we had a limited budget and a limited time to make the film.
The whole idea behind it was the inspiration of the British Commandos and my idea had always been that we would portray the British Commandos as having been involved in the Second World War - a lot of American movie tend to sideline the idea that the British had been involved in the war.
It was really bring back the sense of thumbs up to the British - they were involved from the beginning and they did a lot of dangerous work that should be applauded.
- So what was it about their particular story that enticed you into making the movie?
I have always been someone who has studied military history and I have always been fascinated with this period, I suppose it is my generation.
I use to go to the Chelsea Pensioner’s home years ago and talk to old soldiers - through my grandparents I would meet these soldiers - as a kid I was intrigued by the story telling of those particular commando units.
So for me as a director… if any director was asked if they wanted to do a war movie they would jump at it and someone, like myself, they would be a little hesitant because you are up against something like Saving Private Ryan - which had an extraordinary healthy budget and you are looking at your independent budget and asking ‘how can we compete?’
The idea for me was we can’t really compete as a full on action movie but maybe we can readdress the idea that the British were involved in the Second World War and because I have a knowledge of that period and British Commando units I thought it would be interesting to portray those units and look at their legacy - which is what we have today in Afghanistan.
- Well you have sort of touched on my next question really what sort of research did you do as you developed the script and the film?
The research was things that I had known of and things that had inspired me as well as people that ad inspired me - Ian Fleming was certainly someone has a young man I had read the Bond books but I was also fascinated with his history, background and his time in the intelligence service.
If I could be involved in something where I could portray these great people, and I mean that meaning the commando unit of that period, it was certainly going to be a challenge but certainly something I wanted, if we were going to do it, to tell a good story.
As I said we could never go down the road of being on the nose factually correct on every aspect because we are making a movie and if we go down the road of being accurate it would have been a much longer shoot with a much bigger budget. We are story tellers and we try to do the best that we can and make the most entertaining product that we can - but also people might be inspired to look up and read a little about that period.
- You have touched on the fact that this is an independent project so how difficult was it getting this project off the ground and ultimately made?