Making “Love Me Still”

Love Me Still first came to my attention when I was approached to direct it. After reading the script, I felt there was an original voice in the story and I wanted to have a larger involvement. So my role changed to become producer/director.

The emotional landscape and the power and potency of the characters attracted me. Plus, the dialogue had a presence and believability; it felt vibrant and original. In many ways though, the attraction was the potential rather than the actual. The script was still a work in progress, and I found it thrilling to be able to come in and influence subsequent drafts and the overall dynamic.

The initial setting was in South London, but I have to confess that, after spending two weeks on a recce (reconnaissance) south of the river, I just could not feel a connection to the script. I relocated the film to North London, which is an area that has huge emotional resonance for me, as it is where I grew up. I felt that not only I, but the film, had found a home here.

The film did carry a lot of predictable locations, and the biggest change when I took it on was deciding to pull the film out onto the street and give it a very particular, distinctive sense of place. The lights and vigour of the streets energised the film visually and gave more life to the story.

Musically, the choices I made were to bring value, emotionally, to the script. I worked with composer Paul Leonard-Morgan, who, despite being presented with a miniscule budget, managed to produce a fully original score. The key element for me was attracting a group of players ready established as a string quartet; that was the bedrock for the major themes and musical figures in the film.

The title track I discovered driving up to London early one morning. There was a song playing on the radio by a relatively unknown singer named Louise Setara. The track was called "Love Me Still," and I knew instantly that Louise's voice would bring a different emotion to the overall canvas - softening the sometimes hard storyline. Through building a relationship with Louise's manager, I was able to bring three tracks into the film from Louise's album.

Music is a really potent element of filmmaking, and inspiration can come from anywhere. Years ago, I heard a great cover of a track called "Driving with the Brakes On" by Del Amitri. The song lay dormant in my memory until we cut a sequence of Mickey walking home through Kentish Town late at night, and suddenly I remembered Del Amitri and immediately I knew it was the perfect song.

The biggest thing to come from this film has been the relationship with my executive producer, John Davey. We found we worked well together, and between us we were able to see the film made without relying on any subsidy. This was made possible in no small part by the amazing generosity of actors and crew who were all realistic when negotiating their contracts. A film like Love Me Still would never have been made without actors of the quality of Andrew Howard, Geoffry Bell, Alex Reid and Camille Coduri committing to support the film artistically on a budget like ours.

Apart from John Davey, the next most important relationship was with actor Tom Bell. I'd worked with Tom on a number of occasions, and he had become a good friend. I approached him initially to play the part of Lenny, the grandfather, and he turned me down flat, saying, "I'm too young to play a grandfather. I'm still dangerous, love!" But I was determined that Tom would play Lenny, so I went to visit him with the lure of a fish supper on the Brighton pier. While eating, I broached the subject again, and he simply said, "I'm not doing it." Still determined, I decided it was my one last chance and, just as we were about to say goodbye, I grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "Tom, you have to do the film with me. If you agree to do it, you know it will absolutely get made." Tom suddenly said, "Love, of course I'm doing your film." Just then a swarm of seagulls swooped down on me and, as he walked away laughing, I realised Tom had been breaking up his bread roll and leaving a trail of crumbs behind us as we walked along the pier. He always had a wicked sense of humour.

Tom's presence undoubtedly helped to make the project work but, tragically, this was to be his last film. Ironically, the section of the film we added to entice him to the project, which centred around Tom's character at a wedding, had to be filmed without him because he was never well enough to come back to film it. This sequence was never included in the final cut.

As a director, I find one of the most fascinating aspects of making a film is conjuring and setting out the emotional journeys that the characters take. For me, it is the shared experience in conjunction with the energies and ideas that come from an actor's interpretation that make it so meaningful.

Photo courtesy of the filmmaker.

Love Me Still screens April 28 at the 2008 Newport Beach Film Festival (click for time and ticket information). Festival runs April 24-May 1.