A masterful Danny Boyle original.
Following in the current obsessional tradition of mine to re-post otherwise buried film reviews of the past, here’s a pun intended digging out of the elongated grave that is the 54 minute reading opus I compiled as a love-in article to the films of Danny Boyle linked at the bottom of this brief opening paragraph. As you’ll see, I pithily subtitled this original article from “Trainspotting to Trainspotting” but my near hour long reading behemoth naturally commences with Danny’s debut feature length film, a review of which is reproduced in full below.
Originally written nearly a decade ago, it’s a favourite of my earlier pieces of writing on a film I adore and so, here it is in an article all of its own.
I hope you enjoy.
Danny Boyle — 12 Cinematic Gems
Trainspotting to Trainspotting and ten more gems all lovingly appreciated and spoiler free from inside a shallow grave.medium.com
“Tell them there’s a suitcase full of money, and you don’t want it!”
So what could possibly drive a sane, intelligent and reasonable young man with a burgeoning career in chartered accountancy ahead of him to go and live in a loft and drill spy holes in the ceiling in the process? Maybe it’s that god damn telephone that won’t stop ringing? Or perhaps it’s the dead body and the suitcase full of money? Or has the exciting world of chartered accountancy finally driven the poor man over the edge? All is revealed in Danny Boyle’s first cinematic treat and twenty years on from it’s initial release it still remains a genuine treat that is still fresh and vibrant and if you’re not smiling broadly at the end when Andy Williams’ “Happy Heart” is playing to a conclusion, then you’ve clearly missed the point.
Written by John Hodge in what was to become the first of many such collaborations with Director Boyle and funded by both Film 4 International and the Glasgow Film Fund, it’s a simple tale of friendship, split loyalties and how a totally unforeseen episode can change and destroy these friendships forever. “Juliet Miller” (Kerry Fox) is a straight ahead, fun loving Doctor whose tangled love life nominally includes her flatmate “David Stephens” (Christopher Eccleston), the aforementioned chartered accountant. They share a flat with “Alex Law” (Ewan McGregor) a journalist who takes nothing, including himself, seriously. The three are firm friends as well as flatmates and this is established immediately after the end of the Killing Zoe inspired opening credits, as Juliet, David and Alex interview potential new flatmates for their spare bedroom in their spacious Edinburgh flat. All three are professional, educated and enjoy their young lives, with Juliet constantly avoiding her tangled love life, David’s irreverent and sarcastic behaviour belying his staid professional career, brilliantly exemplified when describing himself as the anti-Christ to a prospective new flatmate, and Alex is the constant joker of the three and never taking anything seriously. After interviewing and accepting “Hugo” (Keith Allen) as their new flatmate, their lives will be changed forever.
All three headline roles were filled with relative unknowns twenty years ago but the success of Shallow Grave propelled all three into highly successful acting careers, particularly Ewan McGregor who continued to collaborate with Danny Boyle on the phenomenal Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary before working with Directors of the calibre of George Lucas, Baz Luhrmann, Ridley Scott and Tim Burton. Synonymous as his character “Renton” in Trainspotting, he excels in his first major cinematic role and brings much of the film’s dark humour to the surface with his irreverent ways “But Juliet, you’re a Doctor. You kill people every day”. Tellingly, it’s Alex who, in the midst of a spending spree, is the one enjoying his new found freedom, quaffing champagne and smoking cigars. But equally telling is his “Nothing will ever be the same again” pronouncement into his new and expensive hand held camera as he details his new found wealth and life.
Each of the three main characters have distinctive character arcs and none is displayed more starkly than Christopher Eccleston’s portrayal of chartered accountant David. He’s a reluctant conspirator, full of repressed anger and self loathing which is covered by his irreverent and sarcastic demeanour and an absolutely star performance from Eccleston and arguably the best of the three headliners. His explosion of anger and threats to put an unwanted admirer for the affections of his girlfriend into a “fucking bin bag” is another of the film’s true highlights. Eccleston would team up again with Director Boyle in 28 Days Later and almost steal the film with a thunderous performance, and he’s best known for his Time Lord escapades in Dr Who. However, his portrayal of Trevor Hicks in Hillsborough moves me to tears on every watch and shouldn’t be overlooked for the master class in dramatic acting that it is. The nominal headline role in the film went to Kerry Fox and whilst not as “successful” as her male co-stars she has a voluminous record of TV and short films to her career credit. As Shallow Grave progresses so too does her femme fatale’ persona and an utterly perfect performance to boot.
Supporting these unknown actors in their first cinematic roles is firstly the wonderful Keith Allen as the unfortunate Hugo and Allen returns in Trainspotting in another small cameo role, but a far larger role is filled by Ken Stott as the probing, questioning and laconic “Detective Inspector McCall”. Peter Mullan is excellent as “Andy” before re-teaming with the Director on Trainspotting and Colin McCredie plays put upon and constantly ridiculed “Cameron” well. There is also a minor role for writer John Hodge as “Detective Constable Mitchell”.
Suffice to say this is an incredible debut film from Danny Boyle and the first of many eminently quotable, tension building, graphically depicted, blackly comedic and career defining pieces of cinematic history. The incidentals, such as the constantly ringing telephone and the haunting, wandering signature piano music of the soundtrack (by Simon Boswell) ratchet the tension from a simple narrative of three friends enjoying life to three antagonists desperate to escape. As with so many of his films, Danny Boyle uses both the soundtrack (with further music supplied by the band Leftfield) and individual songs to great effect. Alongside the closing Andy Williams song “Happy Heart”, there is just one further song in the entire film, Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me” but it’s used brilliantly as we see our flatmates going about their daily life against the backdrop of the dead body still residing in their flat. Pop culture references also abound and are very much reflective of the mood of the film, with the awful Lose A Million game show juxtaposed later in the film with a snippet of The Wicker Man.
Caustically funny with sporadic bursts of graphic violence (but much is off screen or in the shadows), the film triumphs with so many stand out scenes and three career defining performances from Fox, Eccleston and McGregor. From the chiding of Cameron, to a suitcase full of unexplained money, through a rising body count and the destruction of three friendships, it’s also the camera work and angles used by Boyle and Director of Photography Brian Tufano that impress with every re-watching. There are oblique shots between floorboards, a dark and dank loft lighted brilliantly through shards of light and the reflection of the intruder in David’s glasses is a joy to behold. As are the numerous sweeping camera shots of the inside of the flat and the spiralling shots upwards of the stairs outside but the “Strip the Willow” scene at a local Charity Dinner has it all, gregarious and drunken young people enjoying their life amidst a rising tide of anger, resentment and sexual tension all stripping away the bonds of friendship. It’s a wonderful film and I count myself very lucky to have seen it on it’s initial release twenty years ago and I never tire of seeing this beautiful creation time and time again.
But can you do me a quick favour please and answer than damn telephone?
Otherwise I might be forced to go and live in the loft.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film and television articles are linked below or there’s well over 100 blog articles (with 300+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“Sightseers” (2012)
Must see classic from Ben Wheatley.medium.com
Kill List (2011)
Ben Wheatley’s horrible horror is still horribly magnificent.medium.com
“Moon” revisited from the dark side of Sam Rockwell
Duncan Jones cinematic debut is still a disturbing joy.medium.com