The Complete Collection: Danny Boyle (Part 3)

To celebrate Danny Boyle directing the Opening Ceremony for London Olympics 2012, over the next couple of days, I will be charting the career of one of Britains top director...

Before we move on, it is worth noting that prior to The Beach Danny Boyle was involved with a three-director-combo of a movie alongside Guillermo Del Toro and Gary Fleder. Originally to be written by Kevin Smith, Alien Love Triangle was due to be thirty-minutes long - alongside the other two movies Mimic and Imposter. Alas, the latter two became feature films leaving Alien Love Triangle on the shelf. So Boyle moved onto The Beach (Go back to Part 2 to see how that turned out... )

Strumpet (2001)

Following The Beach and the fall out he had with Ewan McGregor, Boyle returned to his roots - television and theatre. Made for the BBC, Strumpet and Vacuuming... were both written by esteemed playwright Jim Cartwright, though, unlike the films of Boyle, these television-projects were produced by Martin Carr - opposed to Andrew MacDonald. Strumpet is a rags-to-riches story involving poetry and music. Chris Eccleston plays a poet whilst Genna G plays a musician who, though shy, expresses herself purely through music. The two meet and their passion becomes exceptionally successful and the film eventually leads to London whereby they perform on Top of the Pops. To some extent we see some features of his previous films - and a tantalising glimpse into the future - as the finale in London reminds us of Trainspotting whilst the odd-match between Strayman (Eccleston) and Strumpet (Genna G) - Strayman who can only speak in words of poetry whilst Strumpet, who cannot speak, but can sing - as a slight echo of the strange duo of Diaz and McGregor in A Life Less Ordinary. The special thing about both these films is the use of digital cameras - very bad quality in their nature - Boyle manages to utilise the small-nature of the cameras by placing them in obscure positions capturing characters dancing across a room whilst the camera sits in the corner, on the floor, observing the characters. 

Vacuuming Completely Naked in Paradise (2001)

I believe this film is the strongest of the two television-projects - written again by Jim Cartwright. Vacuuming ... has a central performance in Timothy Spall as a salesman. He is a salesman who has sold for years and though experienced, he clearly has his own tragic situation that we begin to understand through the eyes of newbie salesman Pete (Michael Begley). Again, digital cameras are used to cover the conversations the two characters have in a car - as the camera seems to be stuffed into the glove compartment. Released within the same period as The Office, this film tackles the monotonous aspects to some characters lives and, it doesn't take long before you realise that Tommy (Spall) and his ambitious attitude to win the 'Golden Hoover', cover some misguided sense-of-self. A sub-plot involving a woman who lives alone in a flat and collects countless newspaper articles adds an interesting dynamic as the film explores the complex issues about memories and the past. The film ends in Blackpool as the characters find out who wins the prize - with a poignant finish on a beach between the two lead actors.

28 Days Later... (2002)

Nevertheless, it was Alex Garland who pulled Boyle from the dolldrums of television as he penned a script for Boyle. Boyle recruited some old-school friends - Andrew MacDonald producing, Alex Garland writing (having written the novel The Beach), Chris Gill - having worked together on the television-films - and even Christopher Eccleston - having starred previously in Strumpet and Shallow Grave. But this also marked a collaboration with crew who would pave the way for the future of Danny Boyle: Anthony Dod Mantle as cinematographer and John Murphy composing the music.

28 Days Later reestablished Boyle, as he created an insightful horror film tackling the parrallels zombies have with a society akin to George A. Romero. Even the mundane, mononous lifestyle of Timothy Spall in Vacuuming... was an exploration of similar themes. Iconic shots of London, completely empty - apparently filmed at 4am on a summer morning - seemed strangely similar to Vanilla Sky's empty New York streets, one year prior - but this set-up was no dream. Opposing to the exceptionally fast-paced running of Trainspotting, 28 Days Later... showed us one character, walking around, like a zombie, trying to figure out what had happened. This was the gritty reality of a post-apocalyptic world with the cold atmosphere from Dod Mantle and the incredible 'used-too-much-in-trailers-since-the-film' music from John Murphy whilst, hitting the jackpot again, with the lead actor: Cillian Murphy.

But Boyle didn't rest on his laurels just yet, a smaller-scale film was in the works - as if to prepare him for work with two child-actors, next stop, Millions ...

This post was originally published on 17th July 2010

The Complete Collection: Danny Boyle (Part 1)

"It's a good place when all you have is hope and not expectations." - Danny Boyle

To celebrate Danny Boyle directing the Opening Ceremony for London Olympics 2012, over the next couple of days, I will be charting the career of one of Britains top directors ...

Much like myself, Danny Boyle was born into a Catholic family with Irish parents. Though, unlike me, he was born in Radcliffe in Lancashire. This may come as no surprise to most people as Danny Boyle has often made films that have a spiritual element. Like Martin Scorsese, Danny Boyle considered being a priest prior to becoming a filmmaker - having been an altar boy for 8 years. I can only thank God that he did not 'select' Boyle to be a priest because he is currently one of the most sought after and if not the strongest British director working today. Lets go back to the early days of young Danny Boyle, shortly after he left Bangor University...

Shallow Grave (1994)

Prior to Shallow Grave, Boyle worked in theatre - working at the Royal Court Theatre back in 1982. This is something he returned to with a production of Frankenstein at The National Theatre a few years ago. Indeed, the Olympic Ceremony is very-much a performance. He directed a range of Shakespeare plays for the RSC and, at the Royal Court, directed theatre by Howard Brenton and Edward Bond. He moved into television and became successful within this world, directing episodes of Inspector Morse and For the Greater Good.

It was John Hodge who had written the script for Shallow Grave, Boyle's first foray into film with Andrew MacDonald as producer. Both MacDonald and Hodge would stick with Boyle for a while to come. Alongside Hodge, some unknown actors were cast  - a Scottish lad named Ewan McGregor and another bloke, Christopher Eccleston and Kerry Fox... who wouldn't do so well post-Shallow Grave. Certain interests were established - Danny Boyle's interest in greed and trust. The suitcase full of money, though a staple of many thrillers, this Hitchcock-inspired quirky-thriller in a shifty-flat paved the way for the future. Certain folk made an impression on Boyle - Leftfield's music, McGregors charming - but sinister edge - and cinematographer Brian Tufano who would be utilised in the future. Shallow Grave was warmly accepted, achieving many awards, but ultimately only gaining a fraction more than the $2.5m budget spent. Inevitably it has made its money now, due to its connection and inevitable "predecessor credibility" it had behind his next film; a film whereby the screenplay was based on a novel by Irvine Welsh ...

Trainspotting (1996)

Though based on Welshs' novel, John Hodge wrote the screenplay with MacDonald, again, producing. Brian Tufano created the grimy cinematography of a heroin-addicts paradise and we begin to see a few theme's return - as a couple more add to Boyle's ouevre. Leftfield, again, appear on the soundtrack - but this time with a host of others representing an eclectic mix of different music from the eighties and nineties - Underworld, Brian Eno, Primal Scream and Damon Albarn to name a few. So far, so Indie. Bumped up from a $2.5m budget on Shallow Grave, MacDonald gave Boyle $3.5m to play around with. In exchange for a $16m return. Not only did the film exceed expectations commercially, but additionally it garnered prizes and awards from all over the world. Empire's 'Best Director' awarded Danny Boyle and, from Warsaw, he recieved the 'Audience Award'. Even BAFTA awardded it 'Best Feature' in Scotland. It was even nominated for an Academy Award for Adapted-Screenplay... but John Hodge walked away empty handed. Together, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave changed the British Cinema landscape - clearly, Britain had alot to offer the world of cinema in the mid-nineties. So, obviously, after Britain does exceptionally well ... Danny Boyle hops over to America to make the big-time.

This was originally published on 6th July 2010