VIMOOZ interviews Jonathan Gershfield, the director of Deal is a Deal
Posted by harsh.patel@vimooz.com on June 24, 2009 under Comedy, Foreign Film | 
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Harsh Patel of VIMOOZ, recently conducted an interview with Jonathan Gershfield, the director of Deal is a Deal. Deal is a Deal is a 2008 British comedy film that revolves around Paul Callow (Mackenzie Crook) who accidentally runs a man over with his underground train, after the man is pulled on to the tracks by his dog. After a week off he kills a second passenger who falls on to the tracks after having a heart attack. Before taking time off for the second accident his colleagues tell him about a little known ‘rule’ at London Underground that no-one talks about: three ‘under’ within a month, and you lose your job – earning yourself ten years’ salary in one lump sum. But being off for the next week means that Paul needs to find someone willing to kill themselves by the following Monday.
Reviews say and I am paraphrasing it “The movie tries to find absurdity and comedy in death.”
There are plenty of comedies that deal with difficult subjects including death. There are comedies about war and there are plenty of subjects, which ostensibly are subjects, which might be left alone. And if we took that line there would be very very few subjects left because comedy does often find its teeth in dealing with difficult and awkward subjects.
And the comedy that I am working on the moment has it’s only goal is making people laugh. It’s basically to entertain and not necessarily to provoke people into thinking too much.
What do you think about Deal is a Deal?
I think most people who have seen it feel the way the drama unfolds and poignancy comes through in relationship between the main characters is actually where the nerve of the film is and not necessarily in the laughter and so on in which it starts out. It does starts out apparently being lightweight and gradually becomes much more heavyweight as the drama unfolds. That was certainly our intention and I feel that’s what we have pulled off and obviously not everybody would agree with that. I certainly feel very proud for it and confident that’s what we have managed to do and majority of people see it like that.
Film has won at the Durango Film Festival and Honolulu film Festival…
Yeah it seems to have done well at American Film Festivals and it’s going a few more. And I am very pleased about that. It now has an American release and quite a good American release as well and not until October. And I am very excited about it and it’s coming out in October.
Any more Film Festivals…?
I think one of them is in Colorado in September, which I have been invited to go to, and if I can I certainly will.
With Deal is a Deal being released in USA probably you will get more exposure in US…
I hope so…I certainly hope so And it would be great and exciting for me if it would have a successful release in US and follow it’s progress and may be use that to see if I can get finance for my next projects.
Name of the movie has been changed from “Three and Out” to “Deal is a Deal”…
Well it was Three and Out in Britain and the reason the why this title got changed to Deal is Deal everywhere else because Three and Out is a poor term and it would confuse people and obviously it has nothing to do with baseball. In Britain it was called Three and Out because of the Three and Out Rule.
How difficult it is to direct and script write an independent movie with the funding and everything?
Well getting the movie off the ground is the most difficult thing of all. I mean just trying to get finance these days is so… so difficult. In a way compared with that the actual process of creating a idea and developing into a script and then turning that into pictures is a doggle.
Tell us something about your work..
Yeah Ok…Well I am a writer as well as a director and I co-wrote a film which came out in Britain at Christmas time starring Burt Reynolds which was played in front of the Queen, which was very exciting and it is called A Bunch of Amateurs. And that hasn’t gone out in America yet but it will in due course. It is about out of work Hollywood movie star whose agent sends him out to Britain to play King Lear at Stratford.
I have just written two other scripts one of which is going to be made at the end of this year by a French director and is called Infidelity. He is a very good director and I am pleased it’s in safe hands.
Any good movies you have seen recently?
I feel incredibly frustrated because the last two or three months I have been completely immersed in this BBC project and you just don’t get out at all. Today is my first day off for I guess probably in three months. I have a lot of catching up to do.
I like all sorts of movies but I am only interested in directing comedy and comedy means an awful lot of different things and I am more interested in comedy with heart or comedy, which provokes thought. I suppose of all the directors who I admire Coen Brothers would be right at the top of my list.
I was actually gonna recommend Burn After Reading you know now that you have said that….Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading?
Yes…Yes I have seen Burn After Reading. Absolutely. And that was really an interesting one. I really enjoyed it.
Me too!
They are absolutely genius. It was not as good as Fargo. Fargo was absolutely brilliant and as I say I enjoy every single one of the movies. Burn After Reading had extraordinary moments and some incredible surprises and characterization was fantastic. I think plot was (chuckles) pretty weird and wacky! And a little bit of a stretch.
And I saw the latest Clint Eastwood one…
Gran Torino?
Yes! I really enjoyed that. I thought that was an excellent movie and again not without its flaws. He is such a brilliant actor. He hardly has to do anything and you are completely absorbed. I mean very very you know confident director as well.
So you know I love American movies. And I suppose my natural leaning is towards movies that come out of the States. There are some excellent movies come out of Britain as well occasionally.
Slumdog Millionaire being the latest one…
Slumdog Millionaire… I absolutely loved. Actually we wanted the editor of that film was the guy we wanted to edit Deal is a Deal. And uh….he couldn’t commit because he had this film called Slumdog Millionaire which was you know was about to go in the end and he did go and took that. So… uh…but I don’t blame him for it. What a wonderful film! And I think he got an Oscar for it?
Yes The Editing Oscar !!! Yes.
What are your long-term ambitions and short-term ambitions?
Umm…. I really really enjoyed making my A Deal is a Deal. Absolutely loved it. It was my first movie. Now that I have the taste of it now I really really want to make another one. So my long term and short term goal is to make another movie. Ideally it would be a movie that I have written or co-written but not necessarily. I very much enjoy working with writers. And as a writer myself I involve writers much more than a lot of directors do. And so yeah that’s my goal really. Outside of my family uh…. making movies…. making my next movie is the most important thing. Will see what destiny serves up.
All right ok. This brings my last question….
Every director looks up to some director and probably in your case a scriptwriter as his or her idol…do you have any?
Although this going over the ground we have already covered I would say probably the Coen Brothers as both writers and directors and producers they would be the people I would admire most and I would love to make to movies in a very similar genre.
And so you are looking forward for a Hollywood project or a movie?
Yeah this new one I have written is very much in Coen Brother’s vein. And in fact a French director has picked it up. In France, they love dark comedies and uh..probably bigger fans of dark comedies then the British are. This film is called Infidelity at the moment. Hopefully it would be in a similar kind of vein to Fargo.
That it’s for the interview. It was pleasure talking to you.
It was great pleasure talking to you. Thank you.
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