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

The Simon and Jo Show Podcast: 06/12/09

This week, with the focus firmly on Richard Kelly's third effort The Box on release we discuss Richard Kelly career to date and then onto directorial debuts - every director has one and once they have done it, it represents the coming of a new artist ... but which one, if you were to choose, is the best ...

All will be revealed in Podcast 11 of 'The Simon and Jo Show' - links on the left!

Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle, 1994)

"If you can't trust your friends, well, what then... What then?... Oh, yes. I believe in friends. I believe we need them."

Introduction

Well ... this is a strange film. Stranger than I expected. As mentioned on this weeks podcast, I am a big Danny Boyle fan. Any film of his I shall watch opening weekend - few directors get the same respect from me. Nevertheless, this film I have been holding back on. I have watched all his other films (even the lesser known Strumpet ... but not Alien Love Triangle...). So, because this film was the directorial-debut starring Dr Who and a Jedi I thought I'd save it for a special occasion. Interestingly, it was when I swapped a few DVD's I saw this on Bluray and thought, well, who knows ... nows the time to see the film that I have held back from for a long while ...

What I reckon... [Nb: I'm getting a bored with 'what I reckon' as-the-title tag - any advice on changes?]

The film begins as three flat mates - journalist Alex (McGregor), doctor Juliet (Fox) and accountant David (Eccleston). Alex is incredibly annoying - constantly talking as Juliet, pretty much, keeps him going. Much to the disappointment of David. The film begins with a type-of overview of friendship and what friendship is to these characters. And I wouldn't be suprised if the writer thought "right, how can I get three best friends want to literally kill each other in a short space of time as an entertaining movie?". The three flat mates need to interview a bunch of people who could potentially be their flat mate - becoming very nasty in the process. One ginger-lad called Cameron is completely offended as they claim 'why would we want to live with some like you'?. Its pretty harsh and, as you think they are all smug wankers, the joke is on them. But thats who they are, so you can't fault the actors playing such roles to a T. So, eventually, Juliet interviews a man separately and, they look like they are hittingit off - especially as she makes clear she is single by telling him to tell her ex-boyfriend on the phone to sod off. This new guy goes into his bedroom, locks the door and - before you know it - he's dead (in a pose remarkably similar to Henry Wallis' Chatterton in his 1856 painting The Death of Chatterton). They find his body and are all a little ... 'weirded out'. Not in shock (well, David says "I've never seen a dead body before" in stunned awe) really - Alex is rooting through his stuff and Juliet practially covers the naked dead man and then calls the ambo. Then they find a suitcase full of money. In shots that are used again in Millions they are unsure what to do - wanting to keep the money. They dispose of the money, with David pulling the short straw and having to chop up the body. The whole film becomes this horror-movie - with David going more and more mental while Alex spends money and the people who are owed the money begin to close in on the flat.

Its a bit strange because it destroys every ounce of good in each character - but they are a bit annoying anyway - but they become completely destroyed over the film. The first act sets all this up with chopping up the body finishing this section, the 'centre piece' is each character getting more a more confused (except Alex who just watches daytime TV and doesn't really give a shit) - David goes completely insane and begins to become a peeping-Norman Bates character. I reckon Psycho was an influence because, alongside the peeping holes thing, there is a shot which looks just like the Janet Leigh shot after the camera zooms out from the eye in the bathroom, post murder.



The film finishes as they are all content with killing each other/calling the cops and giving each other up. But then again, any murder/chopping up is going to screw you up. I don't think thats about friendship - more about sanity and state of mind. Even the flat seems quite unique - and a character unto itself. Pastelly colours - stange paintings hung on the walls looking down on them. The red phone. Making the flat seem quite a spacious place - and possibly separating all the characters further. We first them close together on a sofa at the start and, as the film progresses they get further and further away from each other.

The them itself is prevalent in lots of Dany Boyle's movie. On a purely practial level with whole 'Bag of money' theme, we see it again in Millions and, to some extent, it is a bag of money that gives Renton the opportunity to escape in Trainspotting (Also, a weird baby thing is in Shallow Grave too...). Taking the idea further and considering the notion of greed, and wanting something that isn't actually yours - McGregor tries to rob the business of Cameron Diazs' father in A Life Less Ordinary while Slumdog Millionnaire has this Millionnaire program at the centre of it - though this is not the motive of the lead character.

To close, unlike Slumdog this is not a love story. It is about how much money is worth - and the cost. In a world of celebrity culture, this shows - back in 1994 - these issues as they began. What people do for money - and how far people go for money? Apparently, in the early days of filmmaking - or any business (think about the beginning story of Facebook), everyone is friends and only when the big bucks start coming in do friendships change. This is interesting, as clearly that entire situation is played out here over the space of a few weeks. An interesting double-bill would be with No Country for Old Men with the one guy, finding a suitcase full of money. I didn't love the film as much as I thought I would - maybe my expectations was too high, but I can see how - even at this stage - Danny Boyle was a force to be reckoned with. Some interesting shots: the beating at the cashpoint from the perspective of the cash machine and the shots looking up the staircase with the fast-paced road travelling at the start shows a unique, exciting perspective that soon enough inspired many movies to come. Moreso with Trainspotting but still, the signs were there with Shallow Grave.