‘William Tell’ Director Nick Hamm on Casting Baddie Claes Bang as a Hero and Juxtaposing Bloodiness and Beauty: It’s ‘“Sound of Music” With Violence’

variety.com:

Alex Ritman Having directed psychological thrillers (2001’s “The Hole,” which gave Keira Knightley her first major role), music comedies (2011’s “Killing Bono”) and comedy-thrillers based around the famed DeLorean car (2018’s “Driven”), Northern Irish director Nick Hamm has ventured into entirely different territories for his next feature. “William Tell” is a historical action epic that turns the clock back more than 600 years, delving into the folk story of the Swiss hero who, according to legend, helped liberate Switzerland from the tyrannical rule of Austria’s House of Habsburg.

For those with only a loose knowledge of 14th century European history, Tell is most famous for being an expert crossbowman who somehow managed to shoot an apple off the head of his son (and, crucially, without hitting him).

Led by Claes Bang in the lead role and with an all-star cast including Golshifteh Farahani, Connor Swindells, Ellie Bamber and Ben Kingsley (as an evil, eyepatch-wearing Austrian king), Hamm’s $40 million retelling of the tale explores both the famed apple shot, the precursor to it and the aftermath, with plenty of bloody sword fights, crossbow bolts in heads and flying limbs.

Altitude is releasing “William Tell” in U.K. cinemas on Friday, with Samuel Goldwyn looking at a date in March for the U.S. release.