Internal Affairs

Uh, just a couple of questions.

Was there ever a movie made of Miami Vice with Don Johnson, and did you ever see Internal Affairs, Richard Gere and Andy Garcia? I just got the DVD after so long 'cause it's been deleted, and my mate gave it to me.

[chuckles]

Yeah.

Firstly, um, good score, Arthur.

That Internal Affairs movie is a little bit hard to find, Richard Gere and A- Andy Garcia.

And I think nice that came out.

I remember, um, I've got a copy in my collection.

For me, it was always instinctive.

So when I made, for example, my first American film, Internal Affairs, why did I fall in love with the script? Henry Bean, brilliant writer.

The reason I fell in love with it was because he's such a badass guy, and he was using a combination of desire and power to cleave his way through and break every taboo, every kind of preordained sort of bit of, this is how we should behave, the Richard Gere character.

I thought, wow, what a fantastic character.

I mean, remember at the preview, the first ending, the audience was so outraged at the ending because Richard Gere died with a smile on his face and said, you fucking yuppie, you know.

And it really upset the audience.

The interesting thing about Internal Affairs was the casting.

And I will say this time and time again.

Casting director Carrie Frazier says that by the mid-1980s, Gere is no longer considered leading man material.

In fact, when she and her partner Shani Ginsberg are hired in that period to cast the film Internal Affairs, and Gere is suggested for a supporting role as a cop, the studio pushes back.

The studio didn't think it was a great idea, 'cause I got the call saying, "You know, really, Richard Gere? I mean, can't you guys come up with something a little more hip, a little more happening?"

Frazier tells me that after the disaster of King David, the assistant to Gere's talent agent works especially hard to resuscitate the actor's career.

Is Gere so low that over the next couple years he goes nuts trying to lose himself in a 1980s fog of drugs and sex? So low that one crazy night in search of a thrill, he tries something wild involving a rodent? Well, I'm thrilled when the esteemed film director Mike Figgis agrees to an interview.

Figgis is best known for his 1995 masterpiece Leaving Las Vegas.

But years before that, he is hired to direct Internal Affairs.

Hey, Alan.