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via http://mrrumsey.com/2015/11/03/exclusive-interview-leon-lopez-talks-soft-lad/

Today we welcome director Leon Lopez to the site in order to talk a little about his new film Soft Lad (released on DVD on the 9th of November). Leon and I talk about what research was involved in the film, about depicitng gay characters on screen and much more. Read on for our interview…

Hello Leon, thanks for taking some time out for this interview today!

It’s my pleasure! Thank you for having me.

First things first, could you briefly introduce Soft Lad to our readers?

Soft Lad is a film I wrote about a young man who gets into an awkward situation, having an affair with his sister’s husband. It’s a coming of age story and deals with two men of different generations battling with demons. We have David (the main character) who’s twenty-two and totally aware of his sexuality, and Jules who’s slightly older and struggling with the pressures of society to conform.

It’s an interesting title, how did the film come to be called that and to what does it refer?

Well soft lad is a Liverpudlian expression that means a stupid boy, silly, as in ‘soft in the head’.

Characters, often gay men, coming to terms with their sexuality is often portrayed as a violent and internal process. Do you think this subject matter makes for particularly rich human drama and did it feel daunting to address such a topic in your first writing and directing venture?

Well I wrote the film initially to talk about issues of HIV awareness but it became a lot bigger than that. It touches on family, love, betrayal and the difference just being born 10 years apart can make to a person. I never really thought or worried about the themes of making the film, the struggle to make it at all with no budget was hard enough. I didn’t really worry what people would think of it. I just knew it was a story that needed to be told. This isn’t the kind of thing that would have been commissioned for TV or funded privately as it deals with issues that are taboo and not of commercial value.

What levels of research did the film require during the writing and directing process?

It was originally a play. And the story came to me whilst I was working in a show called Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens which was set in the 80’s and talks about people who passed away from Aids. I wanted to tell a story with a modern day take on the issue.

The story is an amalgamation of lots of different stories that have happened to people I know. It literally all just started to flow and before I knew it I had written the whole script

Daniel-Brocklebank-and-Jonny-Labey-as-Jules-and-David-in-SOFT-LADAs a director, writer and actor can you tell us in what ways you found the various disciplines inform each other and overlap?

Being an actor definitely influences how I direct. I find that when I work as an actor myself a lot of directors don’t know how to communicate, they are almost afraid of actors. Being an actor/director I am aware of insecurities and feel I’m able to let actors just be themselves.

As a writer I like to write roles I myself would like to play, so yeah I think they all link.

Directing and writing appears to have been a recent development for yourself, was it always something that you intended to venture into? And if so what prompted you to pursue it professionally now?

I have always been a writer, before I became a professional actor I was part of the Liverpool everyman young writers programme for three years. I had some of my really early plays put on there as part of their Write Now festivals each year. Once I began singing, I moved to writing songs over plays, but I always continued to write in some form.

Directing is pretty new though. Working in TV, I was always intrigued by the technical aspects. I believe having a knowledge of everything around you really helps your craft, be it directing, acting, camera-operating etc, so I liked to ask questions and this led to more of an interest. It was in 2010 that I decided I wanted to direct. I produced a pilot written by my friend Daran Little and it went well but wasn’t how I envisaged it, and I realised to have more control I needed to learn to camera operate and direct in order get the exact look and style I wanted.

I went on to write and film some short films, produced some music videos and worked as DOP on other people’s projects for experience. And that’s when I felt I was ready to take on my first feature. It took a few years to get the funding together but then I went out with my tiny, almost nonexistent budget of £17,000 and made it!

Craig Stein and Jonny Labey as Sam and David in SOFT LADI see you also have a new short coming out (Hiding in the Shadows), what can you tell us about that and when people will be able to see it?

Well I’m hoping it will be a DVD extra on Soft Lad! Peccadillo like it and are considering letting me add it. It’s a pretty story of two strangers who meet unexpectedly on a park bench. It deals with aspects of loneliness and hope.

And what are your future plans Leon? What should we be keeping our eyes open for?

I have two films I’m writing with my Craig Stein (who plays Sam in Soft Lad) and I have a TV pilot that I’m developing.

I’m also just about to begin a M.A. in filmmaking. A lot of people have asked me why when I’m already making films, but just like with my acting and performing I am a true believer that we need to keep learning. I want to develop my skills as a filmmaker and am extremely excited!

Soft Lad is released on the 9th of Novemeber on DVD, will you be checking it out? Let us know in the comment box below!

对于英伦电影，我觉得就如世界上很多著名导演的评价，代表着世界最高水平，这部电影虽然是那家专门拍同性主题的小公司(片头有个黑猫标志)，但是每次看英国电影我都会挑一个特别安静和舒服的时刻，静静的观赏，因为腐国不只能拍画面精致，格调高雅的古典片，对于同性主题，腐国的那种由内而外，入骨入髓的诱惑，像《轻轻摇晃》、《爱的初体验》以及《同窗之爱》都体现的淋漓尽致。这次的小成本电影又听到了久违了的利物浦口音，上次看的英国同志电影是《无条件的爱》，比起那部激情澎湃，高潮迭起又不失朴素的电影，这部片子显得确实单薄无力，尤其从中间开始到结尾，有点像电影学院学生作品，虽说是有提防艾滋和关心他人这点血淋淋的教育主题在里面，但是电影表现得方式太死板生硬，而且他把一个本可以充满刺激的故事毁掉了。

第一，我觉得青涩的小舅子大卫和成熟英俊的姐夫很有感觉，不管是眼神，还是互相之间的吸引，酒吧黑人Sam出现以后我就完全丧失了兴趣。

第二，电影开始的气氛是非常好的，大卫爱着姐夫，然后又懊恼不能完全占有，姐姐丝毫没有觉察，然后两个男人各有需求和难言之隐。这个时候酒吧邂逅，我以为如果姐夫因为吃醋采取了暴力手段去干涉或是大卫自己后悔了，发现这个只是身材好了点的嗑药黑人并不是自己想要的，然后黑人想强迫大卫留下的时候，大卫逃走回到姐夫身边，这都会使剧情有一个小高潮，比如镜头会继续捕捉暧昧的气氛，拍姐夫是如何每天跟踪大卫，眼神幽幽地拦住他不让他走，却又暂时无法对妻子坦白，而大卫又如何因为也爱自己的姐姐就接受了这种隐秘的关系，至于艾滋，压根更不必扯到剧情来，如果剧情是这样，那一定会继续抓着我的心往下看。

第三，艾滋一出现就要把现实弄的破碎不堪，似乎一切都要变成悲剧。我觉得电影既然没有还没有探讨真爱这个主题，何必浅尝辄止，转而强调滥交的后果呢，弄的这部电影两个主题都没演出深度和创意，爱憎可能只有姐姐是最清晰的，却也没有突出弟弟和丈夫各自的内心状态，夫妻，父女，姐弟，同性情人，亲戚朋友这些复杂的相互冲突的关系也没有一个很透彻的展现。电影只是非常肤浅的讲了一个生活在利物浦的家庭惨剧而已。剧情比较单一，叙事又特别表面化，没有给人有血有肉的感觉，到后面更不像是剧情台词考究的英国电影了，匆匆忙忙给全部角色判了死刑，对峙也显得是刻意安排，明显看出在演戏。总之中间sam出现以后导演错过了很多本可以使这部电影脱离乏味的情节设置，也没有把刚开始那种有情调的隐晦的禁忌之恋延续下去，非常遗憾。

一个22岁的小帅哥大卫爱上了自己的姐夫，还瞒着姐姐跟姐夫鬼混了2年，正在他对自己的行为感到迷茫时，伦敦的舞蹈公司向他抛来了橄榄枝，他终于可以实现梦想。但这也意味着他和姐夫的关系也要走到尽头了。他向姐夫摊牌：他可以留下来，但姐夫必须和姐姐分手；要不然他就去伦敦追寻自己的梦。姐夫自然不会轻易放弃家庭，于是两人分道扬镳。在酒吧买醉的那一夜，他邂逅了黑壮男山姆，两人一夜云雨之后，大卫陷入爱河，认为自己找到真爱。相处一段时间后，山姆提出两人正式且长期的交往，但要去医院检查身体。这一检测可不要紧，大卫原来早被姐夫感染了HIV，这意味着姐夫在他之前还跟其他男人好过，而且姐姐也有危险。在一场本该温馨团圆的家庭聚会上，大卫向姐姐、姐夫、男友和盘托出，姐姐歇斯底里，姐夫悔恨交加，仿佛一夜之间，男主失去了家庭、爱人还有健康。好在男友依然在身边开解他：生命中唯一能够确定的，就是什么都是不确定的！
这个故事新颖离奇，却又时时处处融入在现实的生活之中，全片极具代入感，虽是家长里短，却被几位演员演绎的津津有味。