Heroes & Inspirations - Nicolas Winding Refn

The provocative director reveals some surprising passions to Ian Berriman

- Ian Berriman

To date, Nicolas Winding Refn’s career has only occasionally seen him tacking towards SFX territory, but it wouldn’t be too much of a shock if the future saw him becoming a more regular visitor to our far-flung shores. Over the last few years the Danish-born director of Drive has spoken enthusiastically about bringing Wonder Woman or Batgirl to the big screen, and toyed with remakes of Logan’s Run and Barbarella. And his latest film, the ultra-stylish The Neon Demon, sees him gleefully splashing about in the horror genre.

Refn is clearly a cinephile, having lent his name to the likes of a high-end book of movie posters and a range of vinyl soundtrack reissues. So it’s something of a surprise to learn that he seems to have stumbled into this line of work. “I never wanted to be a filmmaker,” he says. “I didn’t seek it out. I didn’t go to film school. But then film found me.”

Equally surprising – and delightful – is the discovery that his tastes encompass everything from the grittiest video nasty to the most heart-warming fantasy… and that he’s unexpectedly au fait with British telly. “Bottom – that show was so funny! Rik Mayall was just so outrageously offensive!”

THE TV REMOTE CONTROL

As a kid I was very dyslexic – I didn’t actually learn to read until I was 13. So creativity was something that I enjoyed, but I wasn’t particularly good at it. I wish I was! I loved TV, though. I guess because I could change the image with a remote control, and I thought that was such a beautiful thing. I love that idea of being able to control your own flow of images. That to me was inspiring and interesting.

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE