Anlässlich des Kinostarts von Mutafukaz hatten wir die Gelegenheit den Regisseur und Comic-Zeichner Guillame Renard (aka RUN) zu interviewen (Guillaume Scoffié hat uns netterweise beim Übersetzen aus dem Französischen ins Englische geholfen). In dem Film geht es um Angelino, der sich mit seinen Freunden im Untergrund von Dark Meat City über Wasser hält. Nach einem Autounfall beginnt er mystische Kreaturen hinter der Polizei zu erkennen und begibt sich auf ein Katz-und-Maus Spiel mit der Regierung. 

Maximilian: Stylistically one can see strong influences of American hip-hop culture in your work: What does this culture stand for and how does it fit into Mutafukaz?

RUN: The movie is based on a comic book and the Hip-Hop influences were already there. When I was a teenager there were all the stories about the murder of 2Pac and Biggie and as a french guy it was the first time, that I was fronted with the history of the gangs in the US. It stayed in my mind since day one. From that point it started to get documented and I like the visuals about it, the aesthetic. I started to listen to more and more rap and got more information about the gangs, why they exist and their origins. So it was very natural from the beginning.

Maximilian: The score is dominated by E-Pop though. Why is the music somewhat less hip-hop-related?

RUN: There are two reasons: The first reason is, that you have to spend a lot of money to have the rights to use the music for the soundtrack. We did not have enough contacts in the USA to organize the rap-music we wanted to have. So we had to think about the movie differently. The second reason is, that I knew the work of the guy The Toxic Avenger, who makes the music. He is a french guy, who makes electronic music and I think the best music french people do is not Hip-Hop, it is electro. So I wanted to have a mix of symphonic and electronic music. In the end the movie is kind of more original, it is not the style that would be expected.

Maximilian: After Angelino has an accident, he starts to see creatures that appear to be related to the government. What does this moment of waking up stand for?

RUN: The influences of this are a basic plot of science-fiction-vintage movies. There is someone, who is in a wrong place in the wrong time. In a very visual moment something happened and everything changed. That is the start of the story.

Maximilian: Is the film primarily political?

RUN: It is not really a political thing, it is more a homage to old movies like They Live. For example in this moment the weakness is that you have to use glasses and the guy with the glasses sees the world like it truly is. This is kind of a reference, an inspiration and not quite a political assessment.

Maximilian: Why did you choose to bring this iconic comic series to the screen? To what extent does the work differ from the comics in terms of content and style?

RUN: First of all, when you do a comic book you are not restrained in terms of money. The only limit is your imagination and your talent to draw. When you want to do a comic about hundred flamed invaders you can do it without difficulties. But when you do a movie you have to think differently, because you have to make people work, which implies you have to pay people for things. So when you do a movie you have to think about the budget. The other thing is the running time. In a movie you cannot make many stories on the side. You have to tell the story in one and a half hours. You have to think about the main interesting things in the comic book.

Maximilian: Will there be a sequel?

RUN: It was surely a very difficult way to make this movie, it took eight years. It was a long long adventure. So if there would be a really interested producer who brings a lot of money and has a good vision about what should be done, it would be a possibility. The first movie was step by step, we were not always in good hands and it was a hard way.