Interview by
Benjamin Poole
Deadly Cuts is an all-female hair salon in Piglinstown, one of the
roughest neighbourhoods in Dublin. The salon stylist Stacey (played by
Ericka Roe) is determined to win a prestigious Ahh Hair competition
despite being blackmailed by a local gang and threatened to be shut down
by the local councillor.
One fateful night of accidental vigilantism leads to a reinvigorated
community that soon rallies around the Deadly Cuts’ bid to win.
We spoke to director Rachel Carey about her sharp-edged comedy.
Hello Rachel! Congratulations on the release of
Deadly Cuts
which you wrote and directed. I am very glad that it is reaching an
audience! For me one of the most striking aspects of the film was the
setting: a high street hairdressers in Dublin. I think hair salons are
intriguing places and that hairdressers, these everyday artisans, are
intriguing figures. Local hairdressers always know what is going on in
the area, for one thing. Another is the communal relationships they
have with clients - I mean, I tell my hairdresser everything, and I’m
pretty sure most other people confide in their hairdresser, too! I
think this is because by sitting down in front of their scissors
you’re already placing your life and immediate destiny in their hands
and so there is an established level of trust. What’s more, hair
salons are these liminal spaces where you leave a different person
from when you entered: like walking through a magical door. For people
who haven’t seen it, I wonder if you could talk a little about
Deadly Cuts and how central the setting of the hairdressers is
to the film?
Yes, absolutely the hairdresser setting was a central part of the idea,
and there are loads of reasons why. To start at the start, before I even
came up with Deadly Cuts I knew I wanted to make a film
that showcased the young, female, Dublin working class voice. As you've
heard now, it's very distinctive, and it's very funny - and it was
nowhere! Which was crazy to me. So I was just trying to find the right
idea. I also have a massive mane of hair, and go to the hairdressers all
the time. The bigger, fancy salons are too pricey, so I'd often go to
smaller local salons which tend to be the natural habitat of the
aforementioned young working class woman. It's also an environment where
they're in charge, and I loved that - very few places where this cohort
has this kind of power. So that sparked the idea of a comedy that wasn't
just about hairdressers being hairdressers, but hairdressers being an
exaggerated version of what they really are - central community figures
who can make or break your hotness score with the flick of a scissors.
There is nothing more off putting to me than reductive
representations of working-class life. In some films, a lower-class
status is used simply as a substitute for actual characterisation.
However, in Deadly Cuts the characters feel authentic, and the
depiction as vivid as it is amusing. I can imagine that lots of people
I know, especially in my family, would enjoy hanging out with these
women! (I grew up in Caerphilly in South Wales, in an area which
seemed to me very similar to the one depicted in Deadly Cuts -
for example, I really appreciated the senses of humour which are
wielded like weapons!) Could you talk a little about how you
approached the portrayal of class in Deadly Cuts, please?
Yeah, I couldn't agree more, too often the working class world is viewed
through a middle class lens in film. I was sort of bored of seeing
working class Dublin portrayed on screen only in terms of gang violence
or as the butt of a joke, and often being played by actors who'd never
set foot in one of these areas. The real Dublin accent and the
curse-laden, biting wit it brings with it was being lost a lot of the
time, as well as all the colour and fun of working class Dublin. So it
was very, very important to me that this film was authentic, and
respectful, and also that it showed that there was more to these
communities than social problems (and where there are social problems,
what's really causing them?). I made sure when I was writing to spend as
much time in similar areas as I could, chatting to locals about the film
and their own experiences, and getting some of the salons involved in
the actual making of the film. I also made sure my lead actors were bona
fide working class women, and brought as many people as I could from a
working class background to the table in terms of crew. I think that's
the only way to change these things, you have to involve the people
you're talking about.
One thing that no one can accuse Deadly Cuts of is not
providing value for money! There is so much going on: thriller,
comedy, and, at the end, celebratory camp burlesque - what a ride!
Could you talk about how you balanced the various genre elements of
Deadly Cuts? If a particularly fussy person organised their
DVDs by genre, how would you advise them to categorise
Deadly Cuts?
I'd call it a black comedy! With a bit of glitter thrown in. I had to
work hard at getting the balance right, especially around creating the
character of Deano and his crew. They had to fit the world, but also be
awful enough that the audience would get behind the...extreme measures
the girls are forced to take. Ultimately I decided that the bad had to
be played bad, and would be offset by the humour and character of the
girls. Every time something very dark happens, the tension is broken
with a gag. But I think no matter how much it skips about in terms of
look and location, it's always about the same thing - the disadvantaged
trying to win when the odds are stacked against them.
There is an argument that every independently produced film which
gets made and distributed is a triumph. But the film industry is ever
changing, with streaming services hopefully providing opportunities
for smaller films. What did you find were the major challenges/
opportunities to making an independent film and getting
distribution?
I think with a smaller film you've way more freedom. When people see
indies they expect them to be a bit different, a bit edgier. I was lucky
in that people got on board with this film in its development pretty
early on, and on board with real passion. Probably because, as I said
earlier, there really hadn't been an authentic Dublin comedy in a long,
long time. So support and finance came quicker than I expected. Saying
that, I definitely needed to sell it! It was very high concept and you
really have to be clear and able to articulate your vision along the way
when you want to do something a little bit different. As for
distribution, yes, I think the huge appetite for quality and varied
content out there is opening doors for films that may have been shut 10,
15 years ago. I think streaming has broadened audiences' horizons when
it comes to film, opened them up to a much wider range of genres and
styles than they may have normally watched, so I think the demand for
really unique and experimental ideas is only going to grow.
Last question! If you could programme Deadly Cuts in a triple
bill with two other movies what films would they be? Where would
Deadly Cuts fall in the line-up and why?
Great question! I'm going to say I'd programme it into a 'Gals Gone Bad
- A Journey Through the Ages' event. I'd open with
Gold Diggers of 1933 - in the '30s and '40s female
ensemble comedies were huge, and this is one of my favourites - followed
by Thelma and Louise, because it's the modern original, and I had that shooting scene in my
head a lot when I was working on Deadly Cuts - and then
close with Deadly Cuts, because I guess people would get to see where it had come from, how
women together being bad and funny has always worked. And also people
would be drunk by then and let's face it, Deadly Cuts is a
great drunk film.
Deadly Cuts is on UK/ROI VOD now.