“Redemption” out today is the story of a man who returns from war only to be beaten down some more as a homeless victim. Jason Statham returns to the screen in the action-packed film.
Written and directed by Steven Knight, the film stars Jason Statham as Joey Jones, a homeless veteran seeking to make a better life for himself. It also costars Agata Buzek as Sister Christina, a sister in charge of the homeless meals, and Benedict Wong as Mr. Choy, a middle man in the Chinese crime family of London.
Through various instances, Jones proves exactly why his character is not redeeming, why he’s even a bit worthless, but all the same, a human being who is suffering. The film follows Jones, who is a homeless veteran living in a box with another homeless person, Isabel, when two thugs ruthlessly beat Jones and kidnap Isabel. As Jones makes an diversion for Isabel to escapes, he stumbles upon an empty flat that he calls home.
Things turn to the worst when Jones starts taking advantage of his new luck and he resorts to drinking as he cannot deal with his pain. He remains in touch with Sister Christina who helped feed him at the homeless shelter, yet he realizes that he will always be who he is underneath, no matter how much he tries to disguise his true identity.
This is Steven Knight’s film directorial debut and, as Statham puts it in his interview, “Steven Knight’s trilogy.” Coming out this Friday, the film perfectly portrays how nothing can truly change who you are, but in fact, only enlighten you and send you off onto your ways.
The Source Magazine sat down with the film’s star Jason Statham. Check out our interview below:
How redeeming was your character ultimately?
Well it was never meant to be called “Redemption.” In the UK it was called “Hummingbird.” And that was the title of the screenplay and the production and it is the name of the movie in the UK. But the US distributors wanted a different name. It’s not a story about redemption – he doesn’t feel like he can be forgiven for what he’s done, he doesn’t want to be forgiven. It’s not about that, it’s about him doing good just for a fleeting moment. And it’s not about forgiveness; he doesn’t want some someone to come up to him and say, “Listen, it’s not your fault.” It’s not about that. It’s about him finding an opportunity to do good for however long that is for that is where he becomes someone else. And it does come full circle because he falls by the wayside. He’s too dangerous to be a sober man. The efficiency and the skills that he’s learned, he can’t fit in society and that’s why he’s better off in a box, drinking, numbing the effects and being this bad person. Although he was doing bad things, there were particularly good consequences. But anyway, to answer the question about redemption, I particularly prefer the title “Hummingbird.”
Where does hummingbird come from?
Hummingbird is a military drone that they send out and witnesses what the soldiers do. It’s a generic term for a military term and basically sees what happens in places where it’s very difficult to see. Basically it’s symbolic for Joey’s struggle and confidence, it’s symbolic for what he did because he knows they saw what he did and he could never get away from them. Basically, the hummingbird is in Joey’s head. Basically, he’s accountable for everything that they did and the hummingbird is a thing that haunts him.
At one point Joey has hallucinations about hummingbirds. How did you build your character to get away from the past?
Well we met soldiers and we had a couple of weeks of rehearsal where we went to meet with soldiers that served and some came home and became homeless. Some spoke about how they had a lot of the mental illness and trauma and how seeing those things and how the effects affected them. Some never recovered, some get through it. So we used that on making the movie and we also met with hundreds of people from the army who just had different and all those experiences that they had, we just tried to use that some way for what we needed to get done. And we saw doctors that could advise on what the symptoms be for a broken rib and what would be the consequences on the fever that would come if you had an infection and how you would get rid of it and what kind of symptoms it would give you. So we were very keen onto what we were doing. I did more research on this than any of my other movies.
Did you find this character more different than the other ones? I thought they seemed different.
Yes, a lot different because he’s a broken man, a bit more sensitive and I never get to have a relationship in any movie – nun or no nuns. So for me, I really liked the script. It was a great script to read and I respond very quickly to good scripts. You know within 20 pages of a script if it’s good or bad and Steven Knight is well accomplished and sought after writer. You know, he’s been nominated for an Academy Award, so he’s a brilliant writer so when you have a script that he’s written, it’s inevitable that you’re going to do it.
Do you see the film to be an insight into how the homeless people live?
Well it is an insight on how the homeless people live and the violence that sits there in the early hours of the morning. You have to be aware of what’s coming your way and these are people that we sat with and went to SHP in the film which is a homeless charity and we sat there with numerous homeless people and some people find that they get so used to sleeping in the street that they get opportunities to sleep in a bed and it’s difficult. They’re just used to the cardboard on the pavement. So it was an eye opener for us because those homeless people just walk in the streets. Sometimes you’ll see people in a pub drinking and homeless people walk up to them and talk to them and basically people behave like there’s no one there. And they become quite invisible the homeless people. And when you get to talk to them in person, you realize everyone’s got a story.
This is his first movie that he directed so how was it working with a first time director?
Well it was quite something because he had the composure of someone who had been working twenty years or made 50 movies. He was very calm and very relaxed and I think for me, that really makes everyone else relaxed, because if you have a guy throwing up his authority and screaming, and there’s a lot of directors that I don’t want to mention any names, but they get carried away and they do lose their composure and I would hate to be in one of those environments, but Steven is just smooth sailing. He was very happy with what he was getting and it was very sweet. He commands a great atmosphere. Even working with that little kid Macy, he’s complementing her on doing good things and he was very sensitive to all aspects of filmmaking. And the interpretation of script through a director is sometimes lost, but when you written it yourself to put it through the camera, you have a greater idea yourself since you were writing it. Basically that’s what a writer does – he’s directing a script in his own mind and the interpretation of that is best when you’re the director.
What was your approach to this very unusual romance with a nun and how’d you figure it out?
I think it was just because Agata Buzek, who played Sister Christina, she was so great about her connection and about having that possible romance. Because we’re two opposites – she’s a nun and I’m a war veteran but we share a very similar secret. But she’s an amazing actress anyway – she’s super smart and so believable at everything that she does and draws you in. You’re only as good as the people opposite you, right? So I found it very easy because she so great and she has the same story, which just draws you in.
Did you have any idea that your career would take off like it has?
I don’t think anyone ever knows what’s around the corner you know? As it takes off, it can go down. You have to be aware of what goes up comes down and all it matters is how far up it goes, it can come down. You never know what’s around the corner and it’s great to be working and there’s a lot of people who want to be working but aren’t.
Did you always know you were going to be an actor?
Well I got into it pretty late. I think I knew what pound I was worth – well they don’t make those anymore – I know what it’s like to lose money the hard way.
Can you speak a little about “Fast and the Furious”?
What do you know about that? You know I would be killed if I say anything. I’m not allowed to say much. Spoilers are something that are very hard to protect. It was hard enough to protect that I’d be in it so I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.
But we see you in the trailer.
We filmed that six months before it came out! I had to keep my mouth shut for six months. I met with James Wan and I really wanted to work with him and it was a really successful franchise and I liked the car action and it was an opportunity that I couldn’t resist.
Did you find it difficult to choreograph everything?
Usually they’re quite comical. We make mistakes and we’re always laughing because a lot of the stunt men, some of them I get to know quite well just because of being in the stunt community…I got to meet a lot through the years and they have a really good attitude. They really do and we have a lot of laughs. They have to be in tune with you and if they’re really talented, it’s a lot of fun and you get a lot of work done, but sometimes people don’t move so well and it depends where the stuntmen come from, but a lot of times it’s fun even though it looks really serious.
What’s after “Fast & Furious 7″?
I’m going to do the “Expendables Part 3,” Sly Stallone and the merry men. We start on August 20 in Bulgaria. I got a movie coming out that I did with Sly as the writer that’s called Homefrontwith James Franco, Kate Bosworth and it’s a thriller. I think you’ll like it. It comes out the end of this year; we don’t know the exact date.
“Redemption” is now playing.
-Catherina Gioino
