The crux of cool
Director X puts his stamp on ’70s blaxploitation classic Super Fly
When you’ve been the man behind some of the most eye-catching music videos of all time, you can pretty much do whatever you want for your first major studio feature film.
So when music video veteranturned-filmmaker Director
X was contemplating how he wanted to follow his 2016 indie release, Across the Line, he set his sights on a revamp of the 1972 blaxploitation classic Super Fly. Superfly puts a modern spin on the story of a drug dealer who wants to pull off one last job and get out of the game.
“I knew Super Fly ... I knew what it was about before I had even seen the movie,” the visionary eye behind videos from Drake’s Hotline Bling to Justin Bieber’s Boyfriend to Iggy Azalea’s Fancy says. “I knew it was about a drug dealer that wanted to make a million bucks and get out of the life, which is a lot to know about a movie you’ve never seen from the ’70s.”
Grown-ish actor Trevor Jackson plays the titular character (a.k.a. Youngblood Priest). Curtis Mayfield’s iconic soundtrack to the original gets an update courtesy of Future, who curates cuts from 21 Savage, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Miguel and more.
Following the film’s Canadian première, the Brampton, Ont.bornX—whowasbornJulien Christian Lutz and got his start as an intern at MuchMusic — opened up about putting his own stamp on Superfly.
Q We’ve all seen one-last-job flicks from Heat to Carlito’s Way. What is it about that genre that never gets old?
A I think all of us have been in a situation we don’t like and want to get out of. We all tell ourselves, “At one point, I’m going to be able to move on. If I do this one last thing, I’ll be able to escape.” There’s a reason why there are casinos everywhere.
Gambling is something we do. It’s in our DNA. Rolling the dice, the chance to win big — those are imprinted on us.
But there’s a chance you can lose it all. And that makes for a good story.
Q How did you want to make your version stand apart from the 1972 original?
A I went to every department and said, “Everything is super ... fly.” I wanted everyone to push their limits.
Everything should be saying, “Hey look at me.” I wanted everyone competing for eyeballs. The props, the costumes, the cars, the cinematography, the camera moves, the lighting — all of it.
Q Did you seek to do anything radically different in your revamp?
A This is an exercise in respecting the source material. We went through the original film and decided to bring back all the original characters. But there were discrepancies and things that didn’t translate from 1972 to 2018.
In the original movie, he has two girlfriends, but they don’t know about each other.
In 2018, it’s not really acceptable to make your hero a lying cheater. But, what if the girlfriends were both in the relationship with him? Some people do this and what if he’s one of those people?