Danny Boyle Reflects on “Slumdog”

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By Scott Essman

After just a quick glance at his wildly diverse credits, one might easily describe director Danny Boyle’s career as eclectic. After debuting with the 1995 indie sensation Shallow Grave, he quickly segued into another critical darling, Trainspotting. Although his next movies were curious choices – A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach – he rebounded with the sci-fi horror hit 28 Days Later. Boyle next directed Millions, a little-seen indie feature about an innocent boy who finds a proverbial bag of money. Switching tracks again, his 2007 film Sunshine was a legitimate sci-fi tale about a spaceship crew attempting to reboot a failing sun. Now, with his eighth feature, Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle again moves away from whatever métier he previously forged with a story set in India’s ghettoes, concerning a youngster who becomes a national game show celebrity. In this candid interview, the well-spoken Boyle reflects on Slumdog, his divergent body of work, and what lies ahead for him as a prominent film director.

Why do you have so many different types of films in your canon?

Danny Boyle: I have this provocative theory – the best film is your first film. Not technically best or most successful, but it’s your best in that you don’t know what you’re doing. If you can survive the crisis that accompanies that, there’s something wonderful. You should always try to get back to that, rather than rely on what you’ve learned. I’ve tried to do that – what you’re looking for is something to stimulate you, which is often something different to freshen things up for you a bit and a challenge for yourself.

What attracted you to the story in Slumdog Millionaire?

Danny Boyle: With this film, I had never been to India. [My previous] sci-fi films required the precision control of a brain surgeon – everything had to be perfect for it to work. India was a wonderful change. I read the script and thought it was fantastic – I love the story of the kid hijacking the show – he doesn’t do it for the cash. I like people where everything is stacked against them, and it had this poetry of Mumbai.

The recent terrorist attack there makes the setting of your film all the more provocative.

Danny Boyle: It’s an extraordinary place, and it will survive the terrorism. There are many great cities that survive terrible things and come back twice and strong. Cities are the sum of all the people who live there. It will fight back and be back. It’s a sad place at the moment, but it will be back.

What about doing this “smaller” type of film draws you in?

Danny Boyle: I learned a lot from The Beach because I took a huge crew to Thailand.  A big film crew is like an invading army.  It creates a cultural vibration that is wrong.  India has a fantastic history of making films.  I only took ten people – cameraman, designer, etc.  All of the cast and other crew came from there.  That’s the way to do it.  It stops you imposing yourself on a place – it benefits yourself in the long run.

Do you take any methodologies from earlier other films into your current project?

Danny Boyle: I try to make every single one as different as possible from the ones before it. There are awful moments when you see yourself it in. You try to follow a strong narrative, the drive of the story I love. They attempt to appeal to as many people as possible. They are a bit like mainstream movies but a bit of art movies too. I love both, but I don’t want to particularly make one or other of them. I hate exclusivity.

That said, would you make a film with the size of The Beach again?

Danny Boyle: I learned with The Beach is that I work better with budgets I can completely control – about 6 million pounds. Slumdog was $13 million in the end. I can sort of do what you want with that amount. I am better at that kind of stuff. [Hollywood] isn’t built to keep me operating at that level. If you have a success at $13 million, your next one can be $100 million. I try to specialize in making $13 million films look like $100 million.

Do you always devise a new style to suit the type of film that you are making?

Danny Boyle: That’s one of your jobs as a director – you are absolutely in charge of. You can get great performances from actors without you. The rest of it has to do with finding a style to tell a story. People are demanding. You try and make too many films exactly the same, they soon tire of it. You have to find a style that’s fresh but fits the story.

What was the style chosen to tell the story in Slumdog Millionaire?

Danny Boyle: The kid comes out of the lowest part of the city and reaches the height of the city. The prize that’s offered on that show has never been won. It’s an extraordinary extreme. It’s such a dynamic city— the ceaseless motion of the maximum city. [Traditional film equipment] is too cumbersome, particularly there. It’s not a documentary style – it’s a heightened reality style. So we used these small flexible cameras. People thought it was a documentary rather than a proper movie. It allows you to move with flexibility in very crowded places. You can’t control the city. You cannot capture it properly. It’s infinitely changeable.

What did the shooting and editing process consist of?

Danny Boyle: We shot November-December-January [of 2007-2008] and a little bit of February. We edited very quickly – not to get bogged down in it too much. We edited from March to August. It was very quick. We did five months prep – the casting was very complicated. I was there eight months solid. We got it ready very quickly.

How did the locals react to your company shooting there?

Danny Boyle: I got to know some of them very well and gave them a responsibility. Although they are superficially polite, they are not very impressed with Western filmmakers working there. But they are very welcoming. Bombay is very open, like New York, as a gateway to welcome to dreamers and people coming in. There’s no problem with people going to make a film there. They do keep an eye on Hollywood. They are slightly intimidated by it. It was very interesting talking to them about the films that are made there. The cows are wandering around everywhere. They saw that we were trying to do the film in the right way. I was trying to respond to everything I learned there, with as objective a point-of-view as is possible. They liked Trainspotting and 28 Days Later.

All of your films are very cleverly and atypically cast – what’s your secret to casting?

Danny Boyle: You need a very good casting director. I’m mentoring a young director. You look for a very close relationship with someone. I’m very fortunate in that I lived with one. She cast my films.

Regarding 28 Days Later, it’s still amazing that you cleared the streets of London to shoot the film – it almost seemed like visual effects, but you really did it.

Danny Boyle: We were very lucky because we shot just before 9/11 – in July [of 2009]. When we were shooting the main part, 9/11 happened. We used these little cameras which allowed us to shoot multiple angles on a particular corner or street. In London, you are not allowed to stop traffic. You can ask drivers to wait extra time. What we did is we shot at 5am for an hour each day. We hired students to be traffic marshals for us – quite attractive girls. People who were out that early are delivery drivers. That works.

Scott Essman is publisher of Directed By Magazine.

Featured in StudentFilmmakers Magazine, January 2009 Edition.

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