I just wanted to be an ordinary parish priest.

I've been extremely lucky to work with Elmer Bernstein, Howard Shore over the years, but I've always imagined films with my own scores, because I don't come from that world or that period of filmmaking. And so how could I make up my own score on a film like this where it isn't necessarily made up of popular music from the radio or the period; it isn't necessarily classical music. But what if it's modern symphonic music?

When I was growing up in the mid-'50s, the Roaring Twenties were a huge part of the culture. There were a number of films and a bunch of television shows that dealt with the mythology of the underworld from that period.

The tone of the picture and the atmosphere was in my head and in my blood in a way once I'd decided to make the picture. I had to find my way through that to choose, select, emphasise certain visual elements and sound.

I go through periods, usually when I'm editing and shooting, of seeing only old films.

It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and if it does, then only temporarily.

I know there were many good policemen who died doing their duty. Some of the cops were even friends of ours. But a cop can go both ways.