‘Farang’ Director Xavier Gens On The Beauty of Violence [Fantasia 2023 Interview]
Mary Beth McAndrews
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Director Xavier Gens is no stranger to extreme acts of violence, at least in his filmography. From his New French Extremity entry Frontier(s) to his work on the series Gangs Of New York, Gens has an eye for violence, to say the least. And he’s proving that even further with this new film Farang, which had its international premiere at the 2023 edition of Fantasia.
In Farang:
Sam (Nassim Lyes) is a man without freedom. With a few months left on his prison sentence, the amateur boxer enters a work furlough program that allows him to taste the freedom to come. But that freedom proves elusive and a tragic event forces Sam to flee to Thailand, where years later he believes he’s found it with a loving wife (Loryn Nounay) and daughter. They hope to build a new life on a beachfront property, but ruthless local gangster Narong (Olivier Gourmet) stands in their way. In order to obtain their liberty, Sam must do a favor for Narong, but when it goes south, Narong attacks Sam’s family, forcing Sam to fight for his life, his family, and, once again, his freedom. Fighting, however, is what Sam truly knows and does best and mercy be to anyone who gets in the way.
Dread Central spoke with Gens about choreographing that intense elevator scene, how violence is like painting, and more.
Dread Central: How does it feel to have your film play at Fantasia?
Xavier Gens: It played very well and it was so cool to see it with the audience because the audience here is mind-blowing. Basically, when the elevator scene arrived and it was an explosion of violence everywhere, it was like a rock and roll concert. It was really cool.
DC: That’s amazing. So you’re a co-writer on Farang. When did you come into this script? Was this your idea?
XG: Basically I started reading stories about French people going to Thailand to reinvent themselves, to reinvent their life after having a problem with justice. And basically, when you go to jail in France and you go out and you try to go back to normal life, it’s kind of difficult because you have files on you and people know what you did. Basically getting a second chance is not easy. Our character is doing something because if not, he’s going to stay in jail. He wants to reinvent himself, hide himself in a foreign place, and completely change his identity. I like the idea of someone going into a foreign country, and becoming someone else.
So we worked with my screenwriters, Guillaume Lemans and Magali Rossitto to really find a grounded story about it. I was telling them, “OK, I want something, which is talking about, uh, fatherhood because I became a dad recently.” For me, that was very important to put my emotions as a dad for my daughter in it. And I really wanted to nail this. And I had that feeling of what the fuck would happen if my daughter disappears, what I will be able to do? So I was telling them I think I’ll do that, that, that, and that. And if she’s abducted by people, even if I dunno how to fight, I will go and fight. <Laugh>
I also had a profound desire to do an action film with martial arts. I was working on a TV show called Gangs of London. On that TV show, I met with Jude Poyer, the action designer, and talked to him about [Farang]. I was telling him, “Oh listen, I think I want to do that French film talking about violence, and I want to create that character and this kind of action setup.” And he says to me, “Oh, I’m so excited. Let’s work together again.” Because we are really good friends in life.
So I gave the action scenes to Jude to design, to think about, to really create something crazy. When he asked me if we have a limit on violence, I said to him, “No limits, go the fuck out. Let’s create madness. I want to unleash hell on the action scenes.” So he really went for it super hard, which is what you saw. He goes for it in a very outward way. But also, he tried to create a symphony of violence. We really wanted to create a build-up to the elevator scene.
DC: I love that phrase, a symphony of violence. So he designed, so you said he designed these scenes. Did he also help choreograph them on the ground with you? How did that work in terms of choreographing everything?
XG: Yeah. The action designer creates the setup. So I give him what’s supposed to happen in this scene. My main intention for Jude was to tell him what is the emotion and where the action has to arrive.
For example, for the elevator scene, we need to end the scene by getting his arm broken and to create madness from the moment he enters the elevator to the moment he exits. I told Judd, “You’re totally free to create what you want, but I want to create madness. It needs very, really crazy.” He is a fantastic designer, he really managed to make the choreography and organize the chaos inside that elevator. And he got the great idea to bring a gun as a plot in that elevator. He was like, “Oh, if we had a gun, we could have that tension of who is going to use the gun?” So we had the gun in the elevator. He also created all that choreography, the framing, the editing, to really manage to do something completely crazy.
From the first design, because when you design, they bring you the scene and you approve the scene or not. And it took Jude two months, three months to design everything. He designed the scene twice, first in London, then in Thailand to really nail the intention and nail the setup, because we are super precise.
DC: That’s incredible. I don’t think people realize how much choreography goes work goes into a super short fight scene.
XG: It’s crazy because I think Jude designed and choreographed everything for three months and maybe a bit more. Then the shooting, just the elevator scene is five days of shooting.
DC: It was five days. Oh my God.
XG: And it’s two minutes on screen, but it’s really because every single detail is super important. We don’t improvise. We really wanted to nail this. Jude took a lot of time creating this. For me, he is the Leonardo Da Vinci of violence. <laugh>
DC: What an incredible title though, that’s an honor. But I also want to hear about Nassim Lyes who plays our protagonist. How did you discover him?
XG: Nassim is an MMA fighter and a boxing champ in France. He contacted me on Instagram when he knew I was working on this film. So we met each other. The main part was supposed to be for another actor before I met with Nassim. But chance and life made that actor was not available. So after I met Nassim, I said to him, “Listen, finally I can offer you the part. Are you okay to go for it?” And he was totally happy to go for it. Then he really worked his ass off to be able to be in shape. But he’s already naturally in shape and he works every day to be sure he can get his muscles in the right shape. I should take his example, but I’m too lazy. <Laugh>
He works out really a minimum of two hours a day. He is on a diet every day, he knows exactly what he can eat, and what he cannot eat. The challenge was really to get that Brad Pitt body and he really managed that. He is a perfectionist and a super pro.
DC: Awesome. What was that experience like filming in Thailand? Have you ever filmed in Thailand before?
XG: No, I never filmed in Thailand before, but I’ve been there on holiday. For me, the experience was fantastic because I really wanted to show uncharted places. So I found this little village in east Thailand. It’s really near the border of Cambodia. I really wanted to find a place hidden from tourists where you can totally disappear and create an event in your life. And when I saw this place for the first time on the internet, I was like, “I want to visit this because it looks amazing”. And so we went to scout and it was the place.
DC: Did you live there for the full time of the shoot?
XG: Yes, we stayed in Thailand for three months. It’s very humid and hot. But it was a fantastic experience because the local production was super nice to us. The crew, they were absolutely amazing and we felt supported by the crew. That’s super important. The crew was absolutely mind-blowing, to be honest. They did a fantastic job on the film.
DC: So I’m a fan of yours. I love Frontier(s) and Cold Skin. I love how you approach violence. And I’m curious if you have a philosophy towards violence or if you just like creating it.
XG: I’ll take an answer from [Quentin] Tarantino, where I think a journalist asks him why are your movies are so violent. The first answer is gonna be because it’s fucking fun. And I quote that because it’s fucking fun. Also, I think for me, on a personal level this time, it’s a real catharsis. It’s something I need to show because it can be beautiful.
It’s very weird what I’m saying, but the way you show violence on screen, it’s like a brush painting. I love Japanese art and I think there’s something Japanese about violence. I love the way the blood splatters on the screen. Red is my favorite color, so I love to put reds on my movies. And the best way to put red on the screen is to show blood.
DC: <laugh> I love that answer. I, that’s incredible. 10 out of 10. Best answer. That’s all. Like, I love that. And then my final question for you is, do you remember the first horror movie that ever scarred you for life, that ever terrified you as a kid?
XG: The Exorcist. I think The Exorcist was the one and only movie that scared the shit out of me forever.
DC: How old were you when you saw it?
Eight. I’m still afraid of invisible spirits who can possess me, I’m super scared of that. <Laugh>
Categorized:Interviews
