[Laughs] Thats true.
Considering that youve previously made both vampire and Angela Carter-movies, why were you attracted toByzantium?
Also, the fact that it was two female vampires who were a mother and daughter.
That it had this kind of… [pauses] dirty realism to it.
It was that kind of thing.
It was just a terribly attractive package in a way.
It felt quintessentially British.
That old idea of a seance on a wet afternoon.
[Pause] Whats that old portmanteau film with the ventriloquists dummy?
And I guess thats just the kind of movieByzantiumis.
I felt like it fitted within the world of some of the films youve made before.
And you do seem to like stories at least partly set by the sea.
Well, there were a lot of things in the script that were common to other movies Ive made.
[Laughs]
When did you become attached to the project?
I wasnt attached at all, but they just sent me the script.
She went away, had a think about it and came back with what we ended up shooting.
No, I mean it.
It felt like a throwback to something likeDaughters Of Darknessor even the Hammer movies.
But some of the Hammer movies are so bad though, lets face it!
[Laughs]
Definitely the later ones.
Daughters Of Darknessis good.
Thats the one made by the Belgian guy, right?
The Hungerwasnt bad, either.
The Tony Scott movie?
Another one with two female vampires.
Yeah, very much so.
I wanted to ask you about working with Angela Carter, because shes almost been forgotten in some respects.
She has a bit, hasnt she?
What have you re-read?
Recently?The Bloody ChamberandAmerican Ghosts and Old World Wonders.
The novels are harder, arent they?
I wouldnt say shes really a novelist.
No, she wasnt really.
[Pause] Angela was a great allegorist.
Not so much Chaucer.
Have you ever seen a Polish movie calledThe Sargossa Manuscript?
Well, thats the structure of that film.
So thats what we began to do and that eventually becameThe Company Of Wolves.
It wove together incredibly well.
[Laughs] But the effects are so cornball now, arent they?
But you have to watch it in the context of when it was made.
So I thought… okay!
[Laughs]
Neil Jordan, thank you very much.
Byzantiumis out on the 31st May in UK cinemas.
You canread our review here.
