A Thousand Blows: Steven Knight tells us about his feminine peaky blinders

The English creator has not yet finished with the hectic life of Tommy Shelby, but already, he tackles a new true story and another English gang, in this new series to see on Disney +. Encounter.

It is one of the most prominent creators of the 21st century. Co-inventor of Who wants to win millionsscreenwriter of Shadow promises (2007), director of Locke (2013), and especially author of the huge success Peaky Blinders – which will soon continue in the cinema – Steven Knight likes to touch everything. And even if his film Star Wars Will not see the day, it comes back to Disney this week, with a whole new series, to see on Disney Plus. A new gang in a new city, to A Thousand Blowswhich will follow the thiefs of the “Forty Elephants” in the swarming district of the East End of London, in the late 1880s. A new true story, a new shock story. Steven Knight tells us everything.

First: you really like true stories and yet you don’t like you to say that you write biopic …
Steven Knight : The goal of a series, or a film is precisely to imagine. To fill the whites. So, as for Maria (From Pablo Larrain, of which he is a scriptwriter, editor’s note), I don’t like to talk about biopic, because it refers to a biography, like a Bible relating all the life of a person. Which can work in a book. But we can’t do this on the screen. There is not this ambition to say everything. Just, we take an instantaneous life, who, we hope, will be able to capture the essence of life in question. So, I prefer to say that I write portraits.

A Thousand Blows tells the story of the gang of the girls of “Forty Elephants”. Would you say that this is a Peaky Blinders feminine?
At that time, at the turn of the 20th century, there was a lot of gangs that raged everywhere in Great Britain. Whether in London, Birmingham, but also in Manchester. Also in Paris elsewhere! The situation was quite similar in France. These gangs liked to give themselves a name. And of course, they found very cool, very engaging names, like the “Peaky Blinders” or the “Forty Elephants”. The girls of the “Forty Elephants” called themselves so because they were going to rob the department stores of the West London, like Harrods, and when they left, they had so many dresses and coats on them that they looked like Elephants. And then they used a lot of ingenious subterfuges. In the first episode, we show Mary Carr, who pretends to give birth in the street, so that her accomplices make the pockets of passers -by. All this is true! They did that.

“They use the brute force less to achieve their ends”

What is the big difference between them and the Peaky Blinders ?
I think they are a little more cunning. They are certainly more clever, and less use brute force to achieve their ends. Based on press articles of the time, I was able to get a little idea of ​​whom they were. The nature of the crimes they committed was really very different. The “Forty Elephants” did not do in blackmail or extortion. They were rather the type to fooled. They were thieves, less killers. Even if sometimes …

The historical reconstruction is still spectacular. Is this a fundamental aspect for a series like In Thousand Blows, as was the case for Peaky Blinders ?
The budget we had to do A Thousand Blows was really important, so we were able to redo London from the late 1880s. And there is an old abandoned brewery on the edge of the Thames, in London, which makes a perfect industrial decor. Everything has stayed in the state since the 1900s. The place really exists, so we can walk around the alleys around, enter the old ad, mount stairs … This set of buildings is real and creates a real atmosphere . It feels like entering another world. It is a perfect playground for writing and perfect for the actors, who can immerse themselves in the time and have an idea of ​​what it was.

Are you fascinated by that time? The end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century in England?
Yes, especially by the 1880s, the ultimate in the British Empire. London was the capital of the world at that time. A bit like New York is nowadays. It was a real cultural broth, a melting pot that attracted a whole bunch of people from around the world. There are so many stories that we could tell around this period. Especially since it always echoes our contemporary world and we can easily identify with the characters of that time.

And besides, after A Thousand Blows and the film Peaky Blindersyou will do House of Guinnesswhich takes place again in the 19th century …
We have even finished filming! Yes, it will still be a historic series, but this time with beer! So it will be even better (laughs) We will tell the story of the Guinness family in the 1860 and 1870.

To what extent A Thousand Blows Is it faithful to reality? Mary Carr really existed …
As always, I try to use real events like a springboard. I am inspired by historical facts to create and imagine what could have happened in the middle. Many things in the series are true. In particular with regard to the life of boxers, Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham) and his brother, the ascent of Hezekiah Moscow. All these fights took place. And afterwards, it is a question of inventing, of imagining the features of union between. I really love writing like that. It’s very exciting.

“I like to write characters with a good background that do bad things for a good reason”

How do you draw morally ambiguous but deeply human criminals like Mary (played by Erin Doherty) in A Thousand Blows or Tommy (Cillian Murphy) in Peaky Blinders ?
You have to find cool dialogues, to establish the character. We know that Mary had a way of speaking that imposed it. The photos of the time are very telling. Afterwards, you have to imagine. Starting from the principle that she lived this life because she had her reasons. She had a difficult life. This is what I try to write each time: characters with a good background that make bad things for a good reason. My characters are often desperate, sometimes because of poverty, sometimes because they try to survive. Bringing down in love these characters is then the key to the story. It is love that humanity and good rejuvenates in each of us.

How did you shoot the boxing scenes, which are impressive intensity?
I only wrote them! But they filmed it wonderfully. I am still surprised that no one was injured during the shooting! It all looks so realistic. Apparently, a few shots almost hurt for real (laughs). But a priori nobody really took any blows. Because this is the kind of scene that can quickly look can and it really has to seem realistic.

Do you think you come back to the realization yourself one day? You have not managed since Serenity In 2019!
Frankly, director, it’s a difficult job. I think I would be ready to redo a film like Locke (2013, with Tom Hardy), that is to say a contained filming, on a very framed tray. Because to realize is a crazy job. You have to take into account the whole world, the sky, the weather, the night, the others. Writing, alone with my cup of tea, it suits me perfectly. Now, I sometimes write things that I want to stage myself. So yes, I think I will come back to it one day.

In Thousand Blows in 6 episodes will be released on February 21 on Disney+ in France.