“Gangs of London”, a series where the directors - including the French Xavier Gens - were able to push the visionaries into the red (blood) -

Sky Atlantic

  • Broadcast

    across the

    Channel in April, the

    Gangs of London series

    is now offered on Starzplay in France, one episode per week.

  • Sunday evening, viewers will discover episode 5, a piece of ultra-tense and violent bravery, which is the nickname for action movies.

  • French director Xavier Gens took part in the series and recounts his experience.

You may not have heard of it, or not enough, and yet.

The best action movie of the year is a series.

Far from us the idea of ​​replaying the sterile film / series war, but it is clear that the action is no longer required on the big screen, or is limited to the great gap between the superheroes of Marvel and the choreographies of John Wick - starring in the broke DTVs with Scott Adkins (the real ones know).

It's fine, but it doesn't hurt.

However, since April and its broadcast on Sky in the United Kingdom, the

Gangs of London series

has slowly but surely emerged from under the radar, until episode 5 which has turned the heads of viewers upside down.

The French public will be able to discover it Sunday evening on Starzplay, before continuing the following week on the episodes signed by Xavier Gens, essential genre director in France, with the films

Frontière (s)

,

Hitman

or

The Divide

, and to the point of play the consultants on the

District Z

game

.

A story of family and friends

After 20 years of rule and billions of pounds laundered, London's most powerful mobster, Finn Wallace, is assassinated.

By whom and why?

This is what his son Sean wants to discover, by taking up the torch somehow, helped by the Dumani family.

But the various clans of the city are wary, organize themselves, and a gang war is ready to break out.

If

Gangs of London

is meant to be a Shakespearean tragedy in today's London criminal community, it is also a simple pals story.

“Gareth Evans and I are lifelong friends,” says Xavier Gens, “through the films we've been trying to make for ten years, with as much freedom as possible, sometimes within the studios, most often independently.

Gareth Evans is known for the two

The Raids

, master stallions of contemporary action cinema, and it is not forbidden to see

Gangs of London

as the third episode he has never shot.

"We share the same vision of genre cinema, less sanitized, more authoritative," continues the French director.

As could be the films of the years 1970 and 1980, of William Friedkin, Paul Verhoeven or John McTiernan.

The series is a cry of love for this cinema, and we pushed the knobs.

"

"Let every action scene be a piece of bravery"

We are Gareth Evans, Xavier Gens and also Corin Hardy (

The Nun

).

The three filmmakers share the nine episodes, but Gareth Evans, also a co-creator, has kept some of the best action scenes, including the infamous Episode 5 and the Storming of a Real-Time Home, Tension maximum and incredible violence.

Sensitive souls refrain.

As for thrill seekers, you are not ready… “The idea was for the action scenes to be a rendezvous in each episode, a piece of bravery,” comments Xavier Gens.

But it is not systematic, for example episode 7, there is no action strictly speaking, it is necessary to put back in place the characters, the plots, and the confrontation takes place around a table.

Gareth wanted me to bring a European, French touch to the more narrative oriented episodes ”.

An outburst of violence

But let's face it, if the viewer follows these power games without displeasure, sometimes artificial, he or she stays above all for the action, which does not hesitate to surprise, to last, to hurt, and to strike as much. the screen as the spirits.

It's a chopper fight, the rampage of a camp of caravans or a rampage of rage in a hotel room.

"Very brutal, very violent scenes, but never free", explains Xavier Gens, who also insists on the role of women, in front (the writers) and behind the camera (the actresses), and the desire to "create strong women in an ultra-masculine universe ”.

Impossible in the cinema?

If television has already seen real action series (

Banshee, Stricke Back, Warrior

…),

Gangs of London

seems to have no limit.

“Because we had absolute freedom,” adds the French director.

Usually, you have ten days to shoot a series episode, but we could have had 20-30 days, Gareth had a week for the only fight scene with the butcher.

It is an unusual manufacturing process in today's landscape.

And impossible in the cinema?

“Gareth has released 30-40 million euros budget for

Gangs of London

, where he would have only had 10 million for a

The Raid 3

, he explains.

It's like David Fincher, who makes middle films, films that Hollywood studios don't produce anymore, so he finds himself making them on Netflix.

I'm not saying it's an obligation, but it's a possibility.

A coexistence.

Besides, after years of trying to put it on the cinema, Xavier Gens is developing his

Vanikoro

project

, on the shipwreck of Lapérouse, in… series.

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  • London

  • Violence

  • Mafia

  • Series

  • Cinema