Uncut, September 2004: Difference between revisions
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Cox recruited his cast from the punks comedians, indie filmmakers and rock-star wannabes he knew in London, New York and LA. Kathy Burke, Elvis Costello, Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones, Jim Jarmusch — how many movies before or since can boast such a bizarre guest list of left-field stars? But perhaps the most eccentric casting choice was a chubby-Cheeked unknown called Courtney Love, making her debut in a leading role years before Nirvana and superstar junkie fame. Cox recalls Love as highly ambitious, focused and hard-working. But Rude is less diplomatic about the motives for casting her. “She had a loud, obnoxious voice and a personality to match,” he says. “Alex and I cast her because I think she was the most obnoxious woman we could think of, and we really wanted this kind of nagging, whining, loud, trampy chick to play that role. It was a no-brainer.” | Cox recruited his cast from the punks comedians, indie filmmakers and rock-star wannabes he knew in London, New York and LA. Kathy Burke, Elvis Costello, Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones, Jim Jarmusch — how many movies before or since can boast such a bizarre guest list of left-field stars? But perhaps the most eccentric casting choice was a chubby-Cheeked unknown called Courtney Love, making her debut in a leading role years before Nirvana and superstar junkie fame. Cox recalls Love as highly ambitious, focused and hard-working. But Rude is less diplomatic about the motives for casting her. “She had a loud, obnoxious voice and a personality to match,” he says. “Alex and I cast her because I think she was the most obnoxious woman we could think of, and we really wanted this kind of nagging, whining, loud, trampy chick to play that role. It was a no-brainer.” | ||
''STRAIGHT TO HELL'' was shot in Tabernas, a cod-Mexican ghost town near Almeria in southern Spain’s desert badlands. It had been built back in the early ‘70s for the Charles Bronson western ''Chino'' (aka ''Valdez The Halfbreed''). Strummer, ‘Method’ acting his role, spent several nights sleeping on the set. By the time [[Spider Stacy]] flew in with his fellow Pogues, Strummer seemed to be suffering from sunstroke. “Joe got there a few days ahead of us,” Stacy tells Uncut today. “He was sleeping in a wrecked car out on the set. He really got into the whole thing. When we arrived, we were sitting in the hotel | ''STRAIGHT TO HELL'' was shot in Tabernas, a cod-Mexican ghost town near Almeria in southern Spain’s desert badlands. It had been built back in the early ‘70s for the Charles Bronson western ''Chino'' (aka ''Valdez The Halfbreed''). Strummer, ‘Method’ acting his role, spent several nights sleeping on the set. By the time [[Spider Stacy]] flew in with his fellow Pogues, Strummer seemed to be suffering from sunstroke. “Joe got there a few days ahead of us,” Stacy tells Uncut today. “He was sleeping in a wrecked car out on the set. He really got into the whole thing. When we arrived, we were sitting in the hotel lobby. I had my whistle with me and started playing | ||
'Danny Boy'. Joe just started sobbing and sprawled himself out with his head in my lap: 'Don't stop! Don't stop!' He suddenly went all Irish. 'Best fucking foot soldier in the world, the Irish Tommy!'... ' | |||
With temperatures topping 110°F, the desert shoot was appallingly uncomfortable. To maintain the film's S&M subtext, Cox employed "sex and cruelty consultant" Martin Taylor to fill the background scenes with torture, whipping and lynching. For an extra twist of sadism, Cox doused several cast members in sugary water to help attract flies. | |||
"It was gruelling," says Stacy. "But it would've been a cop-out if we'd made things easy for ourselves. The heat, the set, the flies — and the Mariachi costumes we were wearing were really tightly buttoned. If you wanted to go to the loo it was a nightmare." | |||
But Dick Rude plays down any bad memories. "I don't think I was ever uncomfortable," he says. "You have to understand I was like a pig in shit. I was 23 years old and I had the opportunity to write out | |||
my fantasy, then go and play that out in the desert with people whose work and music I admired." | |||
Despite the army of famous musicians, winos and junkies on set, Rude insists the making of ''Straight To Hell'' was relatively free of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. | |||
"I didn't notice a whole lot of drug-taking going on, but what happens behind closed doors is nobody's business," he says, diplomatically. "There was a whole lot of drinking going on, that's for certain. But not usually during the filming— more at the end of the day." | |||
Cox agrees: "There was probably quite a bit of sex going on. Everybody drank wine and was stoned, but I imagine it was a lot less druggy than any Hollywood film. Nobody was on coke, nobody was on speed, there was no heroin. There was an innocent out-of-it-ness compared to a studio film." | |||
Come on, Spider. Surely it was four weeks of sun, shooting up and shagging? "Ah, well, that sort of thing happened all the time anyway," shrugs Stacy. "There was just a lot of drinking done, sitting in glaring sunlight, which is a stupid thing to do. And also they had this cheap wine that seemed to be everywhere, which was consumed liberally. And it was horrible." | |||
WITH A NON-STOP, all-night carnival taking place on the plaza next to the hotel for most of the shoot, it was inevitable that ''Straight To Hell'' would be soaked in booze. [[Shane MacGowan]] was inspired to write much of The Pogues' 1987 album ''If I Should Fall From Grace With God'' on set, including the heavily Spanish-influenced "Fiesta", but he was a reluctant movie star "Shane was negative before he even left," recalls Stacy. "But we'd just done another gruelling European tour and all he wanted to do was rest." | |||
On balance, Cox concedes, the Pogues frontman would rather have been drinking than acting. "Shane was incapable of doing the same thing twice," the director laughs. "He's a poet rather than an actor. Elvis Costello is a serious actor —he pays attention and comes up with ideas, so it was interesting, the complete difference, the two extremes. Shane was more like —Why bother? Why am I even here?"' | |||
But everyone snapped in to professional mode when Dennis Hopper arrived for his one day of filming. Even hell-raising, counterculture rock gods know when they are outgunned. | |||
"He came for a day," recalls Cox. "Everybody was incredibly excited. And everybody came on set that day to watch him." | |||
Stacey admits: "I was a bit in awe of him. I was being a complete wanker, really, because I was watching him to see a true professional at work, learning my craft! Ha, Ha! The offers haven't come flooding in. Perhaps I chose the wrong vehicle." | |||
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Revision as of 11:19, 28 September 2016
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