Argyle | Talking a Cat, a Crew Cut, and Dua Lipa with Matthew Vaughn

Known for the chic retro spy film series KingsmanBritish filmmaker Matthew Vaughn continues his exploration of the genre in an even more explosive way with Argyle. The Press spoke with him.

Argylle (Henry Cavill) is the name of the star spy in the novels by Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard). Fiction meets reality when it becomes the target of a secret organization convinced that the successful author has crucial information. Aidan (Sam Rockwell), a real spy, comes to her aid and tries to elucidate the mystery with her.

This synopsis is only part of the plot ofArgyle, which has no shortage of unexpected twists and turns. For the first time since Layer Cake (2004), Matthew Vaughn is not the screenwriter in the credits of his film. Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Ice Age: Continental Drift) signs a story that became even more bizarre once the duo refined it together. “The first version lacked a bit of bite,” admits the director. At the start, there was no cat, no two spies, no skating on oil and lots of other crazy things. »

Almost revolutionary

The “skate on oil” is one of two daring action scenes in the final act. The other is a shootout that mixes dance and colored smoke.

I wanted to do female action. Pure beauty, spectacle and originality. I believe that our job, whether we make films, write books, paint pictures, is to advance art, otherwise it becomes monotonous.

Matthew Vaughn, filmmaker

“Without saying that I’m revolutionary, I think that if we always did the same thing, life would be boring,” he adds.

The Londoner adds that the action cinema of the 1980s, such Romancing the Stone And Last Action Herobut especially the film Charade, by Stanley Donen, with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, inspired him. “When I saw it as a kid, there were so many twists and turns that I remember stopping trying to guess what was going to happen and just enjoying the movie. This is what I wanted to do with Argyle, he explains. I wanted people to feel good while watching it. We were in lockdown when I started creating it and the world was not doing well. He’s not really getting better and I think we need a ray of sunshine. »

As for the cat, named Alfie, Elly carries him everywhere in her backpack with a porthole. The feline’s real name is Chip, a Scottish Fold, who belongs to one of Matthew Vaughn’s daughters.

“On the first day of filming, there was a cat actor on set, which is ridiculous, because there’s no such thing as a cat who can act. It was expensive and scared me a little… I prefer dogs. One evening at home, I asked my daughter if I could borrow Chip from her. I should have thought more about it since I had to clean his litter box, feed him, and take him in the car with me every day, but the great thing was that he felt right at home. He behaved like a real cat, unlike those who are trained and who constantly look at their trainer off-camera rather than interacting with the actors,” says the filmmaker, who laughingly claims that Chip is the first cat to benefit from nepotism (nepo kitty).

Capture the attention

Argylle’s crewcut haircut doesn’t go unnoticed. It is precisely for this reason that Matthew Vaughn opted for this one. “I was looking for a way to create an iconic spy. In the film, this is Argylle’s fourth book, so people have recognized him for a while by his look,” emphasizes the director.

When I was young, we found Ivan Drago in Rocky 4 amazing and crew cuts were cool in the 1980s. If they come back into fashion, I’ll be happy.

Matthew Vaughn, filmmaker

In addition to the hair, the choice of Henry Cavill in the role of the “cliché super spy” was to accentuate the duality between fiction and the real profession of spy. Matthew Vaughn therefore wanted Argylle’s antagonist to be able to stand up to him with the same panache. In the opening sequence, the hero faces LaGrange, played by pop singer Dua Lipa, who bursts onto the screen in just a few minutes.

“I was sure it would be perfect,” says Matthew Vaughn. I met her, she asked me all the right questions and then she worked very hard with humility. I was very happy and I think I’m lucky. »

Argyle is currently showing