Guy Ritchie - a stunning story of an "ignoramus" and a talented director
Guy Ritchie, a British director, screenwriter and producer, was born on September 10, 1968. Achieving success in modern cinema is no easy task. History knows examples of stunning failures of famous masters' films, and dizzying success of unknown "newcomers" without proper education. Guy Ritchie can be considered one of such "nuggets".
Did you know that Richie is related to British monarchs? That he is an avid chess player and can't really read?
Although the director tries to cultivate the image of a kind of "simple guy from the working class suburbs," in fact he was born and raised in a respectable English family. His father, a former military man and later the director of an advertising company, left the family when Guy was only five.
After the divorce, the future director's mother married a baronet. Therefore, the "street boy" Guy Ritchie spent part of his youth not in the poor quarters of London, but in the 17th century estate that belonged to his stepfather, Sir Michael Leighton. In addition, family legend has it that among Ritchie's ancestors is the King of England Edward I Longshanks.
Since childhood, the future director suffered from dyslexia: with this disease, there is a violation of word recognition in texts, so Guy had difficulty reading and wrote words incorrectly. Although dyslexia did not prevent him from writing scripts in the future: the director would come up with the plots of all his films himself. At a time when other children read books, Guy Ritchie replaced reading with the world of cinema. Already in high school, he firmly decided not to torment himself with studying, choosing a clear goal - to become a filmmaker.
The future director was not interested in the prospect of studying at a film school either: in Ritchie's opinion, they prepare people with a standard way of thinking who churn out banalities. He did not want to shoot the same type of films and preferred to learn not in theory, but in practice. At the age of 15, he dropped out of high school and began his film career as a courier at a film studio. Having got a job there, the young man adopted knowledge from experienced colleagues, grasping everything on the fly.
He started as an errand boy and then became a director of advertising videos. Ritchie invested the money he earned from filming commercials into his debut work: the short film "The Hard Case" in 1995 marked the beginning of his creative biography. Already in this 25-minute film, the "handwriting" of Guy Ritchie is recognizable, which has become his calling card.
Even while working on the short film, the plot of the full-length film "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" was outlined. The difficulties began immediately - no one wanted to finance the work of a little-known "upstart" with no education and experience. Guy looked for sponsors for three long years. In the end, Trudie Styler, the wife of the British singer Sting, gave him the money for the film: she asked that her husband appear in the film in an episode. The film with a budget of only 1.5 million euros was released in 1998, won huge success and subsequently became a cult film, forcing people to talk about a new, bright phenomenon in the film industry.
The next work of the already famous and recognized director was the 2000 film "Snatch". This time there were no problems with financing: sponsors lined up to see Richie, and world-class stars appeared in the film. One of the main roles in the film was played by the star American Brad Pitt, who was so impressed by the first film of the British director that he asked Guy to write the role of Mickey the Gypsy for him and studied the specific accent for a long time.
This film established Guy on the list of famous and talented masters of the film industry, brought another surge of audience love and, of course, income.
That same year, Guy married Madonna – the couple, whose whirlwind romance had been going on for a year, got married and began living together in London. By the time of the wedding, the bride was already pregnant with their future son Rocco, whose parents named him after one of the characters in Guy’s film.
For the next few years, Guy Ritchie became "Mr. Madonna." The couple was united not only by their relationship, but also by their work. Thus, Ritchie shot a music video for his wife for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl," and in 2001 he directed a BMW commercial featuring the pop queen.
For several years, the pop star became his main muse – with disastrous consequences for the director’s career. The romantic comedy Swept Away, starring Madonna, was a box office flop and won five Golden Raspberries. Critics tore the film to pieces, and audiences only added fuel to the fire.
Having taken the failure very hard, the director took a long break from work. But talent cannot be unclaimed! With this thought in mind, in 2005, Ritchie took on the creation of the film "Revolver", which became relatively successful, despite the fact that critics received the film coolly. Then in 2008, the comedy "RocknRolla" followed, filmed on the eve of a divorce, which finally brought Ritchie success.
After 8 years of marriage, one of the most high-profile and expensive divorces followed in 2008: according to various sources, Madonna paid Guy Ritchie from 76 to 92 million (the lawyers never named the exact amount). In addition, the ex-husband of the pop queen kept all the gifts (art, jewelry, and much more).
A new turn in Ritchie's career began in 2009, when he decided to film the "shot and reshot" many times "Sherlock Holmes", in which he debuted as an actor. A new wave of popularity followed and the assignment of the unofficial status of "new face in British cinematography". And then an equally successful sequel - "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows".
After the divorce from Madonna, he had an affair with the British model Jacqui Ainsley. This relationship "gave life" to a son Raphael Richie in 2011, a daughter Rivka Richie in 2012, and the list continued with a son Levi Richie, born in 2014. Much later, after the birth of their children, the couple decided to legitimize their relationship, which continues to this day. It is noteworthy that both spouses know Hebrew, which they made their "secret code" so that no one in the company would understand what they were talking about. Guy learned the language at the insistence of Madonna, who was interested in Kabbalah and actively drew her husband into this faith.
2013 brought disappointment to the director - the project based on the sensational book by Thomas Kelly "Rise of an Empire" somehow did not work out. The touching story about unhappy love was not destined to see the light of day - the sponsors did not believe in the success of the film. But Guy managed to make up for lost time in the new masterpiece "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." about the irreconcilable struggle of CIA and KGB agents.
Guy Ritchie managed to appear in a new role in the film "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword", which was released in May 2017. In this film, the famous football player David Beckham made his debut, playing the role of Trigger. For him, this film became the start of a career in cinema. The actor who played the leading role, Charlie Hunnam, had a very high opinion of the famous football player's acting abilities.
Guy Ritchie's creative successes can be safely supplemented by his sporting achievements. He is a black belt holder in karate and judo, and in 2015 he was awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which was presented to him by Renzo Gracie himself, a legendary bjj fighter. The birthday boy is also an avid fan of the English football club Chelsea.
Guy Ritchie is also an amateur chess player. Judging by the photos on his Instagram, the director regularly plays chess with the actors in his films. According to Ritchie, everyone living on earth at different times in their lives becomes a knight or a rook, a pawn or a bishop, a king or a queen. You can be a pawn all your life, or you can try to become a king. He himself overcame many difficulties and proved that a person who believes in what he does will eventually achieve success and recognition.