The Danish filmmaker is making a leap into TV drama with Warrior, competing at Series Mania in Lille (April 27-May 5). 

Warrior is a modern-day character-driven crime drama about strong human bonds, loyalty and treachery among army veterans, gang members and police detectives, intertwined with a love story between the former soldier CC (Dar Salim) and policewoman Louise (Danica Ćurčić). The series was produced by Miso Film for TV2 Denmark, with support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

You’ve been working on this project for more than 3-4 years with your co-writer Simon Pasternak. First of all, what drove you to use long-form fiction to tell your story?
Christoffer Boe: Feature films is a unique medium. But what’s so interesting with TV drama is that you cannot delve into black and white; only the grey area, the messy is where most things occur. Episode after episode, the creators of the greatest series like The Sopranos, keep transgressing lines, where morality is not an easy choice. That grey area is so fascinating and is integrated into the DNA of TV drama.

With Warrior, I also had the perfect story that didn’t quite fit into a feature film format. I had three sub-cultures that I wanted to develop and connect in some way - the police forces, the soldiers, the criminals/bikers.

What are the main themes in Warrior?
CB: The series asks what does it take to belong to a community? I’m interested in the outsiders. Some people make it a duty to preserve society like soldiers and police officers but by doing that, they put their lives at risk, and at the same time expose themselves to the last thing you want to do as a civilised person: use violence. They are the last defence line. The series asks what happens on that defence line when society doesn’t want you back. It’s also about loyalty and treachery.

What research did you do to draw a realistic portrait of the world of crime in Copenhagen?
CB: We approached ex bikers, real bikers, visited their houses, we met with police officers, soldiers, spent time with them. The bikers’ universe is quite big in Copenhagen, and strangely enough, quite open. We got first-hand stories from the front line.     

How was your work with the actors and in particular Dar Salim and did you have ready scripts for the cast and crew to work with?
CB: With my arthouse cinema background, doing a TV social realistic series about three different environments, with their own codes, was a true challenge. But I was lucky to work with an experienced crew. Dar is a former soldier and also a former pilot. He knew intuitively all the rituals that go with the job. Some of the bikers were cast from the milieu. We didn’t shoot in different blocks. I wrote all the scripts with Simon and we shot the six episodes in one big block. Everybody knew exactly the heart of the story. It made the shooting very visual.

As this was your first TV drama, what support did you get from your producers Peter Bose and Jonas Allen at Miso Film?
CB: They are a great match. Peter is a master with budgets. He has a great way to give you confidence financially and gave me much freedom. With Jonas it was a very creative relationship. Simon [Pasternak] and I had no experience in TV drama, so it was a great learning curve for us. We learned about creating the great arch, understanding how each episode works with its own dramatic structure etc. I have never worked so closely with producers on scripts; they gave me valuable feedback.

Can you explain your photographic work on Warrior and visual style?
CB: Shooting a series is different than with film. But I knew I didn’t want the series to look like a slick TV series. It was great to shoot on locations and to draw a real portrait of Copenhagen. I’ve filmed the city many times in the past, but it has changed so much. The series takes place in one of Copenhagen’s new industrial developments. It gives a very interesting look. I also wanted to shoot with slightly offside angles as if we’re observing the outsiders. The camera itself is digging into these characters.

I had a great photographer in Jacob Møller. He’s worked mostly on commercials before so this was his first series. He has no preconceptions of how to shoot a narrative and is open to anything.

Crime/thriller seems to be your favourite genre these days. After Warrior-or at the same time- you’ve worked on Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q film The Purity of Vengeance for Zentropa. What attracted you to that project and where are you in the production?
CB: The Purity of Vengeance is in editing. I was approached while I was doing Warrior. I felt it was another project that helped me understand the crime genre, showing the underbelly of society. It’s a thrilling genre, where you can portray evil and do a massive attack on society. It was also the very first time in 20 years that I wasn’t directing my own script! I thought I have to try to grow up. And if you have to grow up, working on one of the biggest franchises in Danish cinema for the last 30 years is fun!! I decided: let’s do something different with his franchise to surprise people.

Will you ever go back to making small arthouse films like your trilogy Reconstruction, Allegro, Offscreen that established your name?
CB: For me arthouse TV series is emerging and where it’s happening. Of course, there are great arthouse films, like The Square, and Lars von Trier still does interested stuff. But the merger of classical arthouse aesthetics and dissect of modern society in TV series offers something unique. Steven Soderbergh for instance has done a fabulous work with two directors, Amy Seimetz and Lodge Kerrigan on The Girlfriend Experience. It’s one of the most interesting narrative storytelling I’ve seen in the last couple of years. S1 and S2 have a very interesting structurally complex way of dealing with locations, characters, women, identity, sexuality.

Then feature film still has my heart. It’s unique, with the amount of detail and work that goes in each frame. It’s not comparable. Both forms have their own specifications. I have a big crush on both… Ultimately, it’s all about good storytelling.

What’s next?
CB: I have a few projects both with Miso Film and Zentropa. Those companies are at top of the game and great places to work.

Any interest in working in English language?
CB: I’ve seen my colleagues going to Hollywood and getting smacked. I’m not lured to Hollywood limelight. I’m very comfortable with working in Scandinavia right now.