Dermot:
Does the film company have to get your approval to re-release the film?
Were you surprised that they wanted to re-release it again?
Alex: It depends on
the film. I believe that the U.K. Rights to Sid And Nancy which used to
belong to Central T.V.'s film and production company Zenith went to
Granada. Who then sold them on to the French company Canal. This is
guesswork on my part, financiers don't keep film makers in the loop.
Julien Temple worked a great deal with the Sex Pistols. Did you have any contact with him during the making of the film?
I spoke to him on the
phone about 'My Way' whose film incarnation he directed for 'The Great
Rock & Roll Swindle'. He is the author of 2 films about the Sex
Pistols which are essential viewing for anyone interested in that band.
You
interviewed John Lydon, the Bromley contingent and Joe Strummer for the
film. Were any other members of the Sex Pistols interviewed or
consulted for the film?
Glen Matlock, the
original bass player, was our musical consultant. He arranged the
recreations of the Pistols music. And with suitable irony he re-created
Sid's bass lines for our versions. I didn't interview Strummer, he
became involved only after the picture was shot and we were editing.
Malcolm McLaren also gave me a very nice interview.
What prompted you to put Sid in a hammer and sickle t-shirt and dog collar?
Because I much prefer the hammer and sickle t-shirt to the swastika, of which I am not fond.
Had Courtney Love been considered as Nancy?
As to my knowledge she had no acting experience?
No she was not.
The girl Phoebe, who appears to be a helper for Malcolm, was she based on a real character?
Malcolm had an
assistant, whom I interviewed and was most helpful. What was her name?
It is in my old notebooks, sitting in a vault at the National Media
Museum in Bradford, for punk historians to pore over.
Would
you consider ever visiting the Sex Pistols story again, or punk in
general? As 40 years on there is still an insataible interest in punk
and the Sex Pistols.
No I was primarily
interested in the Sid and Nancy story, and Sid's role as the betrayer
of punk. I don't have any more to say than what's in the film.
When
the film was released, did you feel you might come in for criticism,
saying parts were fantasy (like the taxi ride at the end)? Was the fire
in the hotel room based on fact?
The fire was based on fact. The taxi ride was sentimental bullshit.
Dermot writes a Sex Pistols fanzine, 'We're Into Chaos' and can be contacted at dercam45@hotmail.com
SID & NANCY - 30 YEARS ON