LAST autumn Scarborough was transformed into a huge film set for the gritty prison drama Screwed which gets its national release today. Director Reg Traviss spoke to IAN DUNCAN about filming in the former Victorian prison in Dean Road, his recent trip to Cannes and zombies.

FEW could have imagined that a film shot on location in Scarborough would get its industry premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival.

There were two packed screenings of Screwed during last month’s event and director Reg Traviss said the feedback had been good.

He said: “It went down really well. Both screenings were full, I wasn’t at the screenings because they were before I got there, and I had people stopping me in Cannes several times and saying ‘you directed Screwed it was brilliant’. They’ve been really complimentary and I’d say it went down really well.”

Interest in the film is proving strong as it has already been sold to a number of countries including France.

But, after the glamour of the festival the 34-year-old director had a rude awakening when he landed back in the UK – a nightmare journey from Luton Airport into London where some of his fellow passengers probably reminded him of the inmates in Screwed.

He said: “It was like I was back in the Bronx in 1983. There was hardly anyone in my carriage. There were a couple of geezers in my carriage that were basically just looking to mug everyone.

“There was me and some girl, who was obviously some model, she just hotfooted it off and jumped in the other carriage. And there was some bloke who was just staring into his lap.

“Eventually they didn’t have the courage, some other people got on the train, so when they got off another lot got on – a gang of about six – they just walked through trying it on with everyone. There’s no security on the trains.

“I’d just had a few days at the festival, which obviously you are in one mindset, and then you just step into that.”

Screwed is a gritty prison thriller which is based on a book of the same name by Ronnie Thompson.

It is semi-biographical and chronicles the realities of life behind bars through the eyes of the guards.

James D’Arcy stars as Sam Norwood who leaves the Army after a traumatic tour of duty in Iraq and, unable to find alternative work, he joins the prison service as a “screw”.

And he witnesses first-hand the corruption and violence that is hidden away behind secure walls. Reg said: “The film is exactly what I thought it would be.

“We ended up editing a couple of the strands out because when you are editing, or rather when you are shooting, or even earlier still when you are writing, you are always aware that there maybe a strand or two that maybe edited out in order to make the film tighter and to make it flow better.

“But nevertheless you keep it in the script, you inevitably shoot it and then you deal with it when you edit it.”

A major part of the story is the post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by the lead character, as a result of his experiences in Iraq, but one of the scenes had to be cut. He said: “There were a couple of lovely scenes that we did when he sees his dead friend from Iraq – of course it’s all in his head,

“We were shooting it at a supermarket and when we were shooting

there I think people probably thought we were making a zombie film – we’ve got this man who looks like a zombie because he’s dead you know.

“But that strand of the film got cut. It wasn’t because of the quality of the film, we all really liked it, it made the storyline far too obtuse.

“It was probably for a much more limited theatrical audience, or film fanatics, who would’ve really appreciated it but we felt that the wider audience might feel that it was a bit too obtuse so we revised that. He still suffers post-traumatic stress disorder in the film but it’s more tapered now.”

A major backdrop for the film is the former Victorian gaol in Dean Road and Reg said he felt it was an authentic set. He added: “It is like a set, because it’s not like a huge prison wing. My first impression was we can definitely do this here.

“We could have built a set for example but it was only going to be the

same size as this but when it’s built it’s going to be made out of plywood and it would wobble when people ran up and down the stairs.

“The other option was to go to another location where we could use part of a prison. But you never have the run of it whereas there we were going to have the run of it in Scarborough so it was much more appealing.’’

Filming in Scarborough lasted for four weeks and the prison location made some of the actors feel it was dark and oppressive, but Reg disagreed.

He said: “It didn’t really feel it was dark and oppressive and I don’t know why.

“Maybe that was because it was only a prison for a few years and it didn’t really have people languishing there for decades or the kind of emotions one can imagine. So I didn’t feel any kind of oppressive atmosphere myself.’’

And shooting in the prison offered a number of unique filming opportunities and angles. He said: “We needed a sense of claustrophobia, because it’s a prison, and I needed the audience to feel like they were inside – physically inside somewhere.

“I was shooting through the bars, the railings and the grilles quite a lot to create a sense of claustrophobia.

“At the same time I wanted it to be palatable and not feel claustrophobic, if that makes sense, so I shot it widescreen.

“There’s a kind of contrast – you’ve got widescreen and you have this cinematic scale and scope that’s in the shot. But within the shot the elements are all layered and we are looking through bars and you feel like you are locked in.’’

He added that the end result was “a very British film”. He said: “I think it definitely feels very British, we can safely say that now, I kind of knew it anyway but it’s benefiting us because foreign territories are identifying with it.”

But was he influenced by classic British cinema or other prison dramas from previous decades? He said: “A bit of all and none of the above. I had a few references, as in prison films, British prison films that I thought looked good, and there was something about them.

“You couldn’t equate this film with those films for a variety of reasons but I did kind of have a visual reference that I thought if we could hit that mark, or have that feel about it, then I think the audience is going to like it and I’m going to like it.”

Two films that may have influenced how Screwed turned out were Roger Daltry’s McVicar and A Sense of Freedom which starred David Hayman. He said: “He is the one who played the prison governor in Screwed.”

One question which a lot of people are asking is whether Screwed will get a special premiere in this area but it is still uncertain whether this will happen.

He said: “If I had my way then the simple answer would be yes. We can’t implement it because it’s Lionsgate’s movie.”

Screwed factfile:

• Screwed is a gritty British prison drama which was directed by Reg Traviss and produced by James Harris and Bart Ruspoli;
• It was shot last September and October with Scarborough being used for the majority of the scenes;
• Scenes which were set in Iraq were shot in Essex;
• It stars James D’Arcy, Frank Harper, Noel Clarke, Kate Magowan, Jamie Foreman, Ray Panthaki, Andrew Shim, David Hayman and Cal MacAninch;
• It is semi-autobiographical and is based on the book of the same name written. by Ronnie Thompson – a former prison guard who worked in some of the country’s most dangerous prisons over a seven year period;
• James D’Arcy stars as the lead character Sam Norwood who joins the prison service, after leaving the Army, where he is exposed to prison culture including corrupt screws and drug smuggling;
• The film has been described as “a fresh take on the incarceration genre, offering a story from the unique perspective of those in charge.

From The Scarborough Evening News on Friday, June 3, 2011.