After offering up the sicko standouts of V/H/S/2 (alongside The Raid‘s Gareth Evans) and The ABCs of Death, Timo Tjahjanto teams up with Kimo Stamboel for Killers, the Indonesian/Japanese tale of two psychopaths trying to outdo each other’s exploits. Ahead of the NZ International Film Festival screenings of Killers, Tjahjanto answered our questions about his film.
Hello from Flicks. What have you been up to today?
Like 90% of filmmakers out there, that bumming phase before starting that next project.
‘Killers’ is about two dudes trying to compete with each other’s exploits. Was the writing process like that at all for the two of you?
Not at all, Kimo caved in and let me do the writing. If any, looking back at the picture now, I don’t know if my decision in “exercise of restraint” was the right one or not, the me right now would’ve opted for a crazier film.
What was the starting point for this tale, and how did it develop from there?
There was an original idea proposed by one of the producer that was more genre oriented, a straight up slasher about two serial killers trying to top each other’s kills.
As much as that sounded fun, I was more keen to explore the psyches of these two men, so I wrote the script , while the Japanese producer (Ushiyama takuji) guided me on the more specifics of the Japanese side of the story, be it culturally or mentally.
We also agreed that yes, we’re gonna write this based on our admittance of Asia being a breeding ground for repressed emotions, sickness amongst many things, but not necessarily making a film that only speaks for the Asian audience but also universally; that ties of violence.
Does pitting two psychopathic killers against each other offer more opportunities to shock and surprise the audience than a typical serial killer story?
Could be, I guess that’s something that’s gonna have to be answered by the audience, I was thinking less shock here and more of explorations to uncomfortable places.
Should we be happy that you two have motion pictures to work these things out of your system?
I can’t speak for Kimo, he’s always been a more grounded guy. But I found films are the best medium to exorcise some demons, and I don’t mean necessarily in violent context. I hope that’s vague enough!
Genre cinema is an international art form. What is it like for you to participate in this sort of filmmaking, that’s informed by other films from around the world and watched in all corners of the globe?
It’s crucial for me as a filmmaker not to be trapped by boundaries of borders, I am not particularly keen on telling a story about certain specific cultural time and place. For me that’s the benefit of making films. Genre or not, it can speak universally while still able to maintain the tone of its origin, the best example would be something like Let the Right One In. That’s one incredible film with such a distinguished look and tone, it also speaks of its country of origin.
If you could kill one person and be 100% guaranteed to get away with it, do you think you could – and who would it be?
That’s a very tough question, I am just glad that I don’t want someone to die that badly yet.
What was the most memorable moment of the shoot?
Probably when we had to suffer 5 days of shoot in the location for our final scene, which is located on the 16th floor on a elevator-less abandoned, tilted building. Vertigo can be a bitch, especially when you see round objects keep on rolling towards the edges.
Who would be the best, and worst, people to bring along to your film?
Probably my mum, my wife and my four-year-old daughter
What was the last great film you saw?
I just crossed off El Topo from my list of shame, and straight away I am thinking: I wish I am a trust fund kid so I can make these sort of films without starving my family, these are the type of film that can’t be greenlit anymore, but I hope I am wrong.
What are you thinking about doing next?
I’m doing an action now with the great Welsher Gareth Evans, who’s guiding me through the action sequences, after that I want to do something weird and erotic. I’m only on pre-production now and the stench of male testosterone is already overwhelming.
