Director Guy Ritchie and wife Madonna arrive for the world premiere of 'RocknRolla' at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, London, September 1, 2008. [Reuters]

By Jenni Miller

After taking London by storm with the premiere of his new film "Rocknolla," Guy Ritchie turned his attention to North America with an appearance at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

His first film since "Revolver" (2005) is getting very positive reviews in the media. After the scathing reviews for his recent films, Ritchie admits, "It's nice to feel a bit of love in the house, as they say."

Though "Rocknrolla" is in the same vein as his earlier hits, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) and "Snatch" (2000), it reflects a very different city. "London has become sort of the new Wild West to a degree," Ritchie says, except that it's uber-rich Russian mobsters and real-estate tycoons who rule the new black market.

"Rocknrolla" features star turns from Gerard Butler and Idris Elba as small-timers One Two and Mumbles, Tom Wilkinson as the head of the London criminal underground, Mark Strong as his right-hand man, Thandie Newton as a sexy, crooked accountant and newcomer Toby Kebbell as Johnny Quid, wayward son and junkie rock star.

The intertwined stories of the London high-lifes and low-lifes are set to a thumping soundtrack, quick quips and plenty of sexual tension.

In person, Ritchie is genial and highly intelligent, with a dry sense of humor.

He's as happy to talk about the stretched lobes of the Maoris as he is to discuss the nefarious characters who populate his stories.

He also provides some details about a possible Rocknrolla trilogy as well as his upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" film and the adaptation of his comic book "The Gamekeeper."

As for that other Sherlock Holmes film that's reportedly in the works, Ritchie jokes, "We're doing as much as we can to sabotage that from ever happening."

Q: So what exactly is a rocknrolla?

A: Rocknrolla, I think, has come to mean someone who's like a live wire, who has a strong desire for all things that contain energy in life ... It usually means that they're volatile and drawn to anything that contains energy. This usually has significance or ramifications for their search for excitement.

Q: How's that? Not bad. By the way, I haven't said that before, so you get a new version. The most literal rocknrolla in the movie is Johnny Quid, and he seems to be sort of the hinge of the plot. How did you come up with this fascinating character?

A: (Johnny) was an amalgamation of both tabloid headlines and the experience of different individuals I've known to have taken walks on the wild side. He's based on a talented, philosophical individual whom I suspect has become more philosophical as they've (become more) tortured.

Q: But also I like the idea that he went to one of England's most cultured schools and simultaneously has one of England's least cultured fathers. So I like the meeting of those worlds. Johnny Quid also has one of the most violent scenes, the one in which he beats up the bouncer.

A: He's a tortured soul, and I suppose his frustration manifests through aggression and self-destruction, which ultimately is aggression.

Q: You've spoken of the poetry of street slang, and obviously your scripts are very rich with language. Where do you draw your inspiration?

A: From wherever I can, actually. I don't care what culture it comes from. I'm just interested in what I deem to be colorful speak.

The poetry of everyday language seems to be a thing that diminishes within our culture, and it's a sad loss. But I try to at least integrate a more colorful speak within a film.

Q: When I first saw "Rocknrolla," I assumed that it was part of a trilogy with "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." But the end of "Rocknrolla" indicates that there will be a sequel, and you have revealed that "Rocknrolla" is hopefully going to be a trilogy itself.

A: Well, that was my idea.

It seemed as though there were so many stories still left from this that I would have either made a three-hour movie about this or I would have made two one-and-a-half-hour movies. So it spilled over into another one, so I've already written it ...

I mean, they're not expensive movies to make, right? So I only need a few people to go see this one (in order to) make the next one.

Q: When you sit down to write a script, do you have one character in mind and it blossoms from there?

A: I suppose the writing process is an organic process as much as it is anything else. But I'm informed by life, essentially, so I gather narratives as I live.

And then any story or thing that I'm exposed to, whether it be in the papers or whether it be on TV or whether it be hearing it over a bar, if it excites an aspect of my creative nature, then I'll make a note of it.

And then gradually the characters become informed by different narratives that I hear.

Q: You're an eavesdropper.

A: I'm an eavesdropper, exactly.

Q: Every writer is.

A: Yep.

Q: I've noticed that all your heist movies have a "MacGuffin." What attracts you to that plot device?

A: I'm not sure about that. It's just that I like a vehicle that allows me to draw together the story, and in this case it's obviously the painting. And so, you know, it's essentially a vehicle, but it's a vehicle that has to have some currency.

But I like a blank canvas, as it were, because then you can fill in the blank. You can fill in the canvas.

Q: Your next project is "Sherlock Holmes?"

A: "Sherlock Holmes." We start filming in a month from now, and we've got Mark Strong and Robert Downey Jr., and in the next few weeks I hope to have the rest of the cast.

I'm looking forward to it ... It's a film that is about London as much as it is about a brilliant detective. Sherlock Holmes is essentially the "C.S.I." series, he's the original detective. I'm really looking forward to it.

In short, I'm looking forward to doing an intellectual action movie.

Q: Robert Downey Jr. told us that "Sherlock Holmes" is going to be "bad ass." He was very emphatic about the bad-assness of it and that you're both into martial arts, and I was wondering how ...

A: How bad-ass it is going to be?

Q: Yes, thank you.

A: Hopefully quite bad-ass. That's the idea. I mean, you know, it is going to be an action movie as much as it is going to be a detective movie. So we're trying to make it bad-ass.

Q: Any love interest for Sherlock Holmes?

A: Yes, there will be a love interest, sort of. Hopefully not in a conventional sense.

Q: And you're reportedly making your comic-book series, "The Gamekeeper," into a film.

A: "The Gamekeeper" was based on an idea that we've had gamekeepers for thousands of years and they deal with death on a daily basis. They're the best trackers and know more about nature than probably any other vocation. So it's an interesting theme for a movie.

(Shanghai Daily October 26, 2008)