22/11/2024 - We found out how the heist miniseries took the Swedish director on a journey that sometimes saw him cross paths with his own past

(© Faramarz Gosheh/Netflix)

As the director behind the first instalment of Snabba Cash, Easy Money [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Daniel Espinosa is no stranger to the Stockholm underworld. As he now turns the notorious Swedish 2009 helicopter caper into an elaborate Netflix miniseries, The Helicopter Heist [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Daniel Espinosa
series profile], he hasn’t just drawn from the testimonies of those involved, but also from his own part in this very event. We met up a few days after the world premiere at the 35th Stockholm International Film Festival.

Cineuropa: Were any of the robbers at the gala opening?
Daniel Espinosa: I actually don’t know. I’ve kept some distance for some time, both for ethical and creative reasons.

But you did cross paths quite early on, right?
Yes, when I was preparing Easy Money. I wanted to cast authentic people from the milieu in order to create a dynamic among the professional actors, and I had my eye on this specific guy. We set up a meeting at a restaurant. I waited and waited. After a while, I went up to the guy behind the counter. “Are you that movie guy?” he asked. “Your guy ain’t coming; he’s busy.” Turned out he was busy committing the helicopter heist that very night. But I liked this guy behind the counter and offered him the part. He’s Mahmut Suvakci, who now plays the lead in The Helicopter Heist.

Weren’t you also approached by the robbers, when they suggested you turn the heist into a film?
Correct. When they were out of prison, they came to me. My own youth involved some rough episodes, and I was also best friends with a guy whose uncle was the Stockholm gangster kingpin, “Jokso” Joksović. So, I’m known and regarded as an OK guy who makes cool movies with an emphatic depiction of these surroundings. And when the helicopter robbers got out, they got in touch. “You need to make a film out of this!” “Out of what?” I asked. “Our experience!” I explained that things don’t work quite that way; they would need some IP first. “IP?” “Intellectual property, a picture, a text, something.” “But we can’t paint or write!” I then introduced them to a literary agent, Niclas Samuelsson. He put them in touch with Jonas Bonnier, who took their testimonies. The book was published in 2017.

It’s generally referred to as a “novel”, distancing itself from a journalistic, non-fiction work.
Exactly, and for good reason, I think. The book was written before the prescriptive period for the crime came into effect. If presented as fact, they would have risked indictment. The statute of limitations came into effect three months ago. That is why the film is being released now.

There were also plans to have Jake Gyllenhaal partaking in a US production, around 2016, wasn’t it?
It was. I was directing a film called Life, with Jake in the lead. Niclas, the literary agent, came over, and I set up a meeting between him and Jake. Niclas presented the heist idea and Jake was on board, with a script written by Steven Knight, who did Eastern Promises [+see also:
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film profile] and Locke [+see also:
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film profile]. Steven then approached me to direct, which I wasn’t interested in. I couldn’t envision a US production being true to how our Swedish police work, compared to the USA.

The project fell through though, and came back to Sweden.
It came back and was first offered to Tarik Saleh, who felt it wasn’t quite him. Then Ronnie Sandahl got the offer and started writing. In ten weeks, he had a finished script.

Why isn’t he directing?
I asked him the same thing, as he’s an internationally award-winning director. But he knew I had some experience with the people involved. We’re also old friends. So, I devised the introduction to the main characters and the robbery. I directed three episodes and about one-third of all of the other episodes. I supervised the casting, the location scouting, the clothes and the general style of things. Anna Zackrisson and Jonas Alexander Arnby, the other directors, greatly enjoyed getting all of this served to them on a silver platter.

The events took place in 2009. How much of a “period film” is it, when it comes to paying attention to the detail of then and now?
You have no idea! There isn’t a car today that looks like one from 2009. Then there are the phones, clothes, hairstyles… When I signed up for this job, I thought we only had to grab a camera and get to work. But we could just as well have been doing something from the 1950s. Everything had to be fixed and rearranged.