A Crime Tragedy, not a Crime Drama Not only is Michael Roskam a first-time Academy Award nominee, but "Bullhead," which he wrote and directed, is his first feature-length film, too. So if Mr. Roskam, a 39-year-old Belgian, is feeling a bit giddy about being in the running for the Oscar for best foreign-language film, it's easy to understand why. "Bullhead," which opens commercially on Friday and was something of a surprise nominee, is a gangster movie about a very modern but odd crime: illegal trafficking in hormones that make cattle and other animals grow faster and stronger. But it's also the sad story of a farmer named Jacky Vanmarsenille, played by Matthias Schoenaerts in a performance that has won awards at several festivals, and a life haunted by betrayals and violence dating to his childhood. Before coming to film, Mr. Roskam studied painting, wrote and designed graphic novels, worked as a newspaper reporter covering Formula 1 auto racing, and wrote a novel and several short stories. As he explains it, "It was not obvious for me to go to movies," and he spent his 20s "searching, not knowing where to go," torn between competing loves of words and images and trying to find the right medium for self-expression. He talked both about that struggle and "Bullhead" by telephone from Los Angeles, where he is promoting his movie. Here are excerpts from that conversation: The plot of "Bullhead" is so very unusual, improbable even, that I have to start by asking you: where in the world did it come from? I have always been very intrigued not only by the concept of destiny but also of brotherhood and loyalty and friendship and loss of innocence, the confrontation with violence, manhood, all those things. They are all subjects that were there from the beginning in my head. Those are all very traditionally masculine themes, aren't they? It's Sam Peckinpah and Scorsese, all those guys. It's the Hemingway thing. And the notion of a mafia dealing in animal hormones, what about that? I was quite convinced from the beginning that I wanted to make a film noir, and for a good film noir you need to take a good tragedy and a good crime scene that can serve as a backdrop. Immediately I knew that I wanted to focus on this hormone mafia, which was a real, existing crime organization in my country. I thought that was an amazing, original crime scene - farmers and gangsters combined into one. It has this western feeling but really rooted in my own soil, my own community, my own country. And did you have any personal experience of that particular world yourself? I followed the rule that Martin Scorsese said, write about what you know, do not create a world or copy a world that you admire but do not know. As a teenager, I used to work on farms. I remember all those guys, and I probably saw them driving up the courtyards when I was working, and stopping by and telling the farmer what to do and what products to use because otherwise they wouldn't buy his bulls. I was lucky to have this kind of exotic crime scene close to me. You must be able to feel the heartbeat to understand it, and I was close enough to do that. I notice that you characterize "Bullhead" as a "crime tragedy" rather than a "crime drama." In your mind, why is your movie a tragedy and not just a drama? I describe it as a tragedy because the ending is already known, the story has taken place and the storyteller knows that and is saying, "Something has already happened. It's done. It's like "Once upon a time ..." which means the ending is known by the storyteller and he's just going to tell you how. Whereas for me a drama always has this tone and sphere that says, "It starts now and we don't know how it's going to end." It likes to give us the idea of a realism, and I'm not really interested in doing that. I'm more interested in tales and storytelling. I also see in the press notes that you say that "Bullhead" "relates to the hormone mafia like "Hamlet" relates to the Danish royal family." So that's another way of stressing the tragic element, right? That was my way of saying this is not a movie about the hormone mafia. Because "Hamlet" is not about Danish royalty. It just serves perfectly for the story Shakespeare wants to tell. And in this one as well: the hormone mafia is completely serving the whole tragedy. I show you a reality, but it's a platform for a much bigger story about our main character, Jacky, who's fighting his destiny. He has no other choice but to be who he is and fight the things coming towards him. Since we're talking about classical archetypes and references, when I saw the Jacky character on the screen, I thought of ancient Greece and the Minotaur. Am I reaching there, or was that also on your mind? That was Matthias's idea, he came up with that image. He said, "I have to create a Minotaur, create this half man half bull." I loved that because for me the animal is a very important symbol of innocence. We created that feeling with Jacky, and you can compare it to a gorilla in a zoo, or Batman in his cave. "Beauty and the Beast" is in there too. Was the role of Jacky written specifically for Matthias, or did he come to it later in the process, after you had already written a script? I was very afraid that my movie was a good story but that I wouldn't find an actor who could create Jacky and put him on a screen in a way that everybody would be mesmerized by. So I needed a particular kind of guy, and Matthias gave me the confidence to write it that way. That also gave him the confidence to go all the way, because it was tough preparation for him as well, both mentally and physically. Matthias is pretty athletically built, but slim rather than tall, so he gained like 60 pounds for this part. And what were the qualities he had as an actor that made you feel so sure about him? I think it was his dedication and his intelligence. He just has the DNA of the greatest guys.When you're a director, and I hopefully am a good one, or at least good enough, you will feel this kind of actor intuitively when they stand in front of you. You just feel it. As a form of validation of your work, how important is an Oscar nomination to you? I must admit that, personally it means a lot. Because I'm old for a first-timer. I mean, many filmmakers started making brilliant movies when they were in their 20s, and here I am already at the end of my 30s. I was kind of worried, "Well O.K., I still might make good movies, but damn, why did I start so late?" For me, I feel like it's going to the world championship of cinema, and I'm already there in the finals. I cannot lose, I can only win, so I'm just going to enjoy it. When you're an Oscar nominee, you have that title, and it seems you have it for the rest of your life. It's like nobility; you become a part of this select group of people. I mean, I'm not an elitist, but it does feel nice. Laughs