THE BIKE THIEF | INTERVIEW
Carl Marsh speaks to two of the main faces behind new thriller The Bike Thief, a snapshot of modern food delivery Britain: Matt Chambers, directing his first movie, and Alec Secareanu, one of the two lead actors alongside Anamaria Marinca.
This is your debut as a director, Matt, with actors including Alec (Ammonite, God’s Own Country) and Anamaria (4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days). That must have been a ‘pinch me’ moment, knowing they were involved?
Matt Chambers: Yeah, a complete dream come true. When Anamaria did 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days, for most people who saw it – certainly with Alec as well – it changed the way we look at cinema; changed what I thought was possible. The script for The Bicycle Thief was written without any nationalities or anything like that defined within it: initially a very bare-bones structural document. And then I don’t remember how it got to you, Alec – the first thing I heard was that it was on your desk!
Alec Secareanu: It was sent to me, I think by one of the producers. At that point, as Matt said, he didn’t have a specific family for it, but after I read it, I was like, OK – we need to find some specificity. But other than that, I found it to be a very relevant story for these times – a story worth telling – and I wanted to get on board. I got in touch with Matt, who said he was willing to work on the script, especially the Romanian lines, to make them as accurate as possible. It was a very collaborative way of working, which I haven’t done before in film.
So was Alec the primary draw for the other actors?
Matt: Once Alec was on board, everybody else was desperate to do it!
It would be remiss not to mention the music: G Hastings from Scottish hip-hop group Young Fathers did the soundtrack. Again, how did you get him involved?
Matt: I’m an enormous fan of the band, and when I wrote the script, I was listening to their music. I think you and I, Alec, were already sort of chatting [about them] by that point?
Alec: Yeah, I went to see a concert by them when they played in Bucharest, perhaps the summer before.
Matt: I basically reached out to them on Twitter, and luckily G, who is the prominent songwriter of the band, was looking to compose for a short film. I just said: “Why don’t you be brave, and come and do a feature with us as it’s all of our first times as well?” Not Alec, obviously, but it was our first time, so why didn’t he come and hang out with us and see what happens. I’m so thankful that I did, because it’s incredible.
The film is about exploring the notion of urban anonymity: you’ve got people who might be your delivery driver, like Alec in the movie, and you don’t know what goes on in their head or what their life involves. From the outside, all you see is someone who gives you the pizza, and then you shut your door. I think the film wants to address that – not judging a book by its cover.
Matt: Totally. That was very much the intention. There’s quite a long stretch before we even see Alec’s face – and then that reveal of “oh, it’s him”. We wanted the audience to do that because we’re a pretty small independent movie; most people who see it will be aware of who Alec is. So that moment of the reveal, you hope they take that feeling with them out into the world.
Alec, do you have any personal connections with lives like The Rider – the character you portray in this film?
Alec: I know a lot of people that left Romania for a better life in Western countries. I don’t have many friends that aren’t overqualified for the jobs they’re doing – still, they’re delivering pizzas, working as drivers, taxi drivers, truck drivers, in construction or whatever. So there is an interesting story to tell here: people leaving the country, who migrate to other countries, find jobs they’re overqualified to do, because they are looking for a better life.
And they have a better life in many ways: they make more money, they’re able to give the kids a proper education, and they have access to better healthcare. But at the same time, they’re doing a job that they were not meant to do. They make this sacrifice for the sake of the family, for the children’s sake, for their future. It’s a generation that sacrifices themselves for the betterment of their future generations.
The Bike Thief is out now on digital platforms. Info: here
words CARL MARSH