Breaking from the blocks with 'Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' in 1999 - Ritchie brought to the screen a never before seen blend of street banter, camera work, and an intertwining of character stories, from this base he has yet to stop rising in meteoric fashion in the filmmaking landscape.

With the release of his latest hit 'RocknRolla' on Blu-Ray & DVD on March 4th, Frank got exclusive Kiwitown access to a series of Q&A with the man himself:

Which scene was the most challenging for you, and which are you most proud of?  The scene with the Russian hitmen looked as though it could have been exhausting to shoot.

GUY RITCHIE:  It was quite, actually, but I still see the movie as a whole. I’m not sure if I can isolate a particular scene. I think the scene is the movie.  I can’t stand back from it and isolate anything. It’s funny, a narrative has a beginning, a middle and an end and the way I judge them is if they’re ultimately an enjoyable meal.  I don’t think I can isolate bits.  I judge the thing as a whole rather than its parts. So, I’m not sure if I can pick out anything that’s specifically unique.

You seem to be a producer’s dream – are you?

GUY RITCHIE:  I think it’s because of where I came from, making narrative films.  Instead of film school, I used to make music videos, and we used to make them for five, ten, fifteen or twenty or twenty five thousand pounds.  You can’t do a lot with that, and all mine were narrative-based, with a beginning, a middle and an end. It didn’t take long before you realized you had to compromise in order to manifest the narrative.  It didn’t matter if it wasn’t perfect.  The day was running out and so was the money. So, I suppose I come from a school where I had to compromise according to my limitations. I don’t mind limitations.  I don’t mind budgets and I don’t mind working to them.

What can you say about the possible sequel?

GUY RITCHIE:  Well, I wrote the material and I sketched out number three.  I’ve just got to be sure that people go and see number one. If they go and see number one then I’ll make number two, probably about this time next year.

How do you come to terms with people pre-judging things?

GUY RITCHIE:  I think if you’re explicit about the fact that this is ‘a Guy Ritchie film,’ I don’t have a problem with that becoming a brand, so to speak. In fact there are many positive aspects to that.  There’s the Guy Ritchie film as a brand, and the Guy Ritchie film that’s not a brand, where I play a secondary role and am essentially there to help manifest a different identity than what I’m known as. So, I think what you do – and this is my theory – that you essentially keep my name out of the equation when it comes to promoting something that isn’t in this genre.

What other genres do you fancy tackling?

GUY RITCHIE:  I’d like to do a Second World War movie.  I like the comic world.  I like kids’ movies.  The list goes on.  I’d like to do a load of disparate genres from what I’ve experienced so far.

When did this passion for movies start for you?

GUY RITCHIE:  I wasn’t academic in the traditional sense, and I’ve always liked the arts.  I was the first guy in the country to get a GSCE in film studies when I was 15.  I’d pretty much made up my mind that this was what I wanted to do, but how do you get into the film industry in the UK? It took me ten years to work that one out.  Once I became a runner, and I didn’t do that until I was 25; that was my way in. As soon as I found my way in, I was directing within a year from that position. As soon as I knew how to get in, I was in.  It took me a while to understand it. The only way in here is through commercials or music videos, and then you can get onto the next thing.

Is it hard to keep on top of developing street slang?

GUY RITCHIE:  I don’t know, but slang seems to evolve at breakneck speed. I’m not sure if we’re a great illustration of that but we try in our old, fuddy-duddy ways to keep up with what’s happening ‘on the street’.