A Brutal 'Unhinged' Moment In Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Was Improvised By Henry Cavill
If you've seen the trailers for Guy Ritchie's new movie "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," there's one zany aspect that likely stood out to you (well, two if you count Alan Ritchson's arms). The historically-based action flick seems to be having fun with its Nazi-killing sequences, so much so that Henry Cavill's hero can be seen sticking his tongue out like a rock star on stage every time he kills a German soldier. It's a weird, memorable detail that was improvised on the spot by Ritchie and Cavill, according to the latter's new interview with Variety.
"It was a co-improvisation between Guy and myself," the actor explained when speaking to Variety at the film's premiere this week. Apparently, it came about when the writer-director, presumably having shot a few takes the expected way, started encouraging Cavill to get a bit wild. "Guy said, 'I want you to have more fun with it. Stick your tongue out or something,'" Cavill recalled. "And so we did and it stuck, as featured quite well in the trailer."
That tongue thing wasn't in the script
The film's first trailer features two moments in which Cavill's character mows down some Nazis while doing his best Gene Simmons impersonation, and one even pops up again in the first seconds of the Youtube version as one of those teaser-for-a-trailer intros that's so popular these days. It's a small detail, but one that makes the movie seem noticeably more outlandish — which, in a Ritchie film, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
According to Cavill, the improvised gesture helped inform his and Ritchie's idea of the former's character going forward. "That was the first moment where we decided Gus was going to be slightly unhinged in these moments, and that makes it more fun," he told Variety. It's true: there are plenty of movies with characters killing Nazis, but not that many that include a signature (the ragtag, justice-seeking killers of "Inglorious Basterds" are the cool exception that proves the rule). While /Film's Jeremy Mathai didn't much care for "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" overall, he also notes in his review that the ungentlemanly crew of the title is made up of "unstoppable (and impossibly charismatic) killing machines."
Did the real historical figure do this? Who's to say!
"The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" is technically based on a true story, and it includes real-life figures like Army Major Gus March-Phillipps, who formed the No. 62 Commando squad, as well as his fellow team members Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer) and Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson). The film was inspired by former war reporter Damien Lewis' book "Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII," and Richie's co-writer Arash Amel says the tongue thing would've been pretty on brand for the real March-Phillipps.
"It was totally in the essence of Gus March-Phillipps to behave exactly in that way," Amel told Variety, referencing a story in which the real March-Phillipps nearly landed a court martial after blowing up a bridge in Norway against British high command. "He lived to kill Nazis in the same way Alan Ritchson's character Anders Lassen lived to kill Nazis," Amel explained. "These guys were built from a different breed. He didn't stick his tongue out, but who knows, maybe he did?" While "who knows" isn't exactly proof in the affirmative, Amel's point seems to be that Cavill got to the heart of what March-Phillipps was like according to historical accounts. "He embodied Gus from start to finish," he told Variety.
"The Ministry of the Ungentlemanly Warfare" is now playing in theaters.