Geremy Jasper on Belstaff's Balancing Act

Think fashion film; think models in diaphanous dresses frolicking in cornfields, right? Which makes Outlaws - an epic 15-minute short for British heritage brand Belstaff - something of a mould-breaker.

Written and directed by Geremy Jasper through multimedia production company LEGS Media, the surreal, circus-themed film-within-a-film stars a raft of Hollywood heavyweights including Harvey Keitel, Cathy Moriarty and Katherine Waterson, as well as brand spokesman David Beckham as a mysterious motorbike-riding stuntman, haunted by dreams of a beautiful trapeze artist as he flees a maniacal circus director seeking vengeance. 

Watch the film, below, and read our interview with Jasper about shooting in Mexican skin-flick theatres, finding inspiration in '50s biker movies and why Beckham ultimately kept his mouth shut.

What was the brief from Belstaff?

There were three informal ingredients:  1) leather;  2) motorcycles; and 3) David [Beckham].  It felt a bit like kismet since I had already written a short screenplay about a circus daredevil being chased by the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse and ducking out in an all night movie theatre.  I thought with a few adjustments it could be a good fit and the fine people at Belstaff agreed.

Have you worked with many fashion brands? How is the writing/filmmaking process different, if at all, to working with a ‘non-fashion’ client?

I’ve worked with both fashion and non fashion brands many times, but what made this project so different and special was that Belstaff wanted to make a legitimate short film where the screenplay led the charge, instead of it being a glorified long-form commercial with product shots etc.  I was supported and given the freedom to make it as surreal and rich as I wanted - something totally unheard of these days.  

What was your inspiration and how did you come up with the idea for a film within a film? 

Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron was a major inspiration, along with La Strada, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and the old film noir Detour where the hero goes down a long road of bum luck.  I was also trying to synthesize my love for cheap American biker movies from the '50s and '60s, with more poetic European circus films. 

I’ve always been a sucker for films within films and it seemed like a great way to link the present with the past and fracture the narrative. The screen’s like a portal for Beckham to go through the looking glass into the funhouse of his own memory.

The film was shot in Mexico, can you tell us a bit about the locations you chose?

I absolutely fell in love with shooting in Mexico. Every location had something strange and beautiful which would trigger fresh ideas and add some new twist to the story. Fernanda Guerrero, the art director, deserves a lot of credit for transforming these spots – a tiny candy store in the beautiful little city of Tepatepec became the exterior to an all-night cinema. For the interior cinema we shot at a functioning skin flick theatre in Mexico City. And an abandoned Russian baths building was remade to be our Edward Hopper Diner set.  Then for the cliff jump we headed out into the desert where the view down the canyon was legitimately scary and dangerous.  

What was it like working with a cast that was a mix of seasoned professional actors and David Beckham, who was making his first foray into acting?

I couldn’t believe we were working with two legends like Harvey and Cathy - they’re like religious figures to me.  And Katherine is incredible. So I think David was a little nervous ( I sure was) but they really couldn’t have been cooler and more generous with us. Even though it was David’s first role, it’s not like the he hadn’t been on camera before! He knew what he was doing and was really easy to work with. There was a Day of The Dead brass band playing all the time and beautiful Mexican Circus performers everywhere, creating a very playful and collaborative vibe on set.

What were the major challenges for you in making the film?

We were trying to shoot a hell of a lot in five-and-a-half days: multiple locations, stunts, snakes, dialogue scenes, horses, musical numbers, motorcycle chases, trapeze acts... I thought our first AD Renan was going to have a nervous breakdown trying to coordinate and execute this elaborate puzzle. But we pulled through. Someone on the crew joked we were trying to shoot Gone With The Wind over a long weekend.

And the most rewarding aspect?

The joy is in the making. Shooting the film was its own circus and I loved being in the eye of all of the madness with the costumes and make up and music. There was my hero Harvey Keitel saying my dialogue – totally surreal. And something I’ll never forget.  Even though we were working our asses off there was a crazy, joyous, almost intoxicating sensation on set.

Were there any particular technical aspects of the film that you’d like to tell us more about? 

I think one of the more interesting parts of the process for me was how, in the editing room, we really rewrote the narrative and found the unique tone of the piece that wasn’t really evident in the screenplay. It wasn’t shot to be narrated by the blind tarot reader character but I needed a way to explain to the audience all that was happening. The more surrealistic and poetic nature of the film really came to fruition during the last step of the process.

Why the decision to make David Beckham’s character silent?

David’s character was always based on Clint Eastwood’s 'The Man With No Name' from the Leone spaghetti westerns – the strong silent type, stoic and mysterious - and since David is not a professional actor (but still very physically expressive) it made sense. He did have some dialogue but we ended up scrapping it to make him as enigmatic as possible.

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