The 2002 World Cup was memorable for a multitude of reasons, but it was events off the pitch before a ball was even kicked that provided perhaps one of the more infamous moments associated with the tournament. Roy Keane’s exit from the Republic of Ireland camp made headline news around the world. Although Ireland had a fantastic tournament, it was shrouded in controversy, and overshadowed by the absence of the team’s former captain. Those events and the very public falling out between Keane and manager Mick McCarthy are depicted in new film Saipan, starring Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan. Ahead of the film’s release, and the day after a famous victory for the Irish national team against Hungary, Filmhounds sat down with directors Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa.
First of all, congratulations on the film. It’s amazing. I was really blown away by it. It’s an incredible piece of work, and the story behind it has never really been explored on screen, what would you say initially drew you to the project?
Lisa Barros D’Sa: Well, that’s very kind of you to say, so first of all, thank you very much. I’m really glad that you enjoyed it. I didn’t know this story before I read the script. It was very well known, but I don’t necessarily follow football very much, and so it was great, I think, that I came to it unaware, because I experienced it first on the page as a really brilliant drama. It’s a very pure piece of dramatic storytelling about these two characters, very different, both wanting the same thing very passionately, and headed toward this collision with each other on an island far from home in a kind of slow motion way, and I remember reading it and thinking, surely they’re going to be able to resolve this somehow, and he’s going to get to play, and so from that point of view, it was a story that had that structure, but also felt like a lens into some really urgent themes today, like to do with masculinity, media interests, the kind of national identity questions, and all of that seemed even more interesting, before I read around it and realised what a big impact it had had on Ireland at the time, and around the world. Glenn had a very different experience, because he remembered it really well.
Glenn Leyburn: Yes, well, I am a football fan, so I came to it from the other side, and remember very clearly tuning into Sky Sports News to see what Roy was doing on a minute-to-minute basis, and mostly that was walking his dog, and I remember desperately hoping that that private jet that had been fuelled up and was supposedly on the runway ready to take him back to Japan would come into play, so yes, I do remember it quite clearly, but actually, I think the great thing, the great joy of the script is that when it came through, I wouldn’t have necessarily expected that I was going to make a story about this, but as Lisa says, when we read the script, it became clear that there was so much more to the story, and in such great writing as well, you know, it was so layered, and it was hugely entertaining as well, and told in a really entertaining way, which we love, and there’s always something quite subversive about telling a really entertaining story that does deal with deeper themes, and has deeper thematic resonance.
Lisa Barros D’Sa: It’s such a great psychological study and exploration of these two characters, which, you know, we hoped would attract a really fantastic cast, which of course it did.
That was going to be my next question really. Éanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan are magnetic in the film, and really embody those roles to a point where it starts to get to the point where you forget that they’re not actually Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy, which is a testament to the work done there. What was the experience like of working with both of them?
Lisa Barros D’Sa: Oh, they’re both incredible, you know, we’re so lucky. It was our dream casting, you couldn’t get better than that. For both in Ordinary Love, which we made before, and in this, we’ve just got the most kind of dream actors that we could imagine for those roles, and so really, I mean, the experience was every bit as great as you would imagine. There was just such investment and commitment in, being that character’s representative within the story for both of those actors, and also a really nuanced understanding from both that we weren’t asking them to do an impression of the characters, but to find the kind of emotional truth of those characters within their own, so that level of sort of understanding of the real character, and then the journey to find their version and our version of the character within the story, that was just, it was so beautifully managed, and rehearsing with both of them in the room, and the kind of passion that was brought to that, and the level of sort of understanding of theme, it was really wonderful. Then the moments, I think, when they’re on screen together, and they come together at different moments in the story, they’re apart, and when they come together, we always thought of them like different rounds in a boxing match, when they’re together, and even though we had rehearsed, it would always feel unpredictable, there were always little moments of magic in terms of how they dealt with each other, and, they’re both such different characters, both wanting the same things, and the kind of the difficulties in communication, how they never quite really managed to kind of connect with each other, that was so enjoyable to film, and so brilliantly managed by both of the the actors.
Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane, obviously in real life, are both huge personalities, and as witnessed by the events that took place, I was wondering, was there any difficulty in the approach to portray them in a fair light, and not really take sides in the story?
Lisa Barros D’Sa: Yes, I think that we really felt a responsibility to tell the story fairly, I would say, with respect for both of the characters, and definitely with respect for both of those people, and we’ve obviously fully understood this, and we needed to kind of understand and tell it fairly from both points of view in as far as we could. It makes a compelling drama apart from anything else, as well as being a human responsibility, I think.
Have Mick McCarthy or Roy Keane seen the film yet, do you know, and if so, have you heard anything from their reactions?
Lisa Barros D’Sa: We don’t think they’ve seen it. If they decide to watch it, that’s completely up to them. That’s really, you know, it’s their own lives.
Glenn Leyburn: We did reach out to both parties in the run-up to making the film before we made it. We’ve made films before about people in real life, and it’s only right that you reach out in advance to say we’re doing this, and if they’d like to have conversations with us. I do know that Mick did talk to Steve briefly, and I think that same invitation was given to Roy, although he chose not to, and that’s absolutely fine. So, yes, we’re not quite sure if they’ve seen the film and whether they will or not.
Lisa Barros D’Sa: They’ve probably spent a lot of time in their lives talking about this. [laughs]
Yeah, fair enough. I’m sure they will have thoughts on it at some point in the future, but it was interesting to find out whether they’d got in touch or anything as a result of that.
As per the last 24 hours, with Ireland’s recent unexpected successes on the field, do you think that will bring more eyes to the film, given that there will be more focus on Irish football going forward in the next few months?
Glenn Leyburn; Well, I hope so. Aside from the film’s success, it’s just brilliant to see Ireland back in the conversation with the World Cup. It looked highly unlikely this time that that was going to happen. A last minute winner to get into the playoffs is quite something. I think there’ll be a lot of people in Ireland with sore heads today celebrating that. But it’s amazing. This would be, if Ireland were to qualify for this World Cup, that would be the first time since the Japan-Korea World Cup. So, it would be a significant moment for sure.
Brilliant. That was all my questions. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me today. I really appreciate it. Good luck with the film. I’m hoping lots of people go out and see it because I really, really enjoyed it.
Saipan is released in UK cinemas on 23 January
