Director's Chair: Danny Boyle

09 January 2009

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Danny Boyle shot to fame in 1996 with the release of the gritty movie Trainspotting, an adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel. He returns to the big screen this week with Slumdog Millionaire which is winning over movie audiences and critics.

The Radcliffe born filmmaker began his career in the theatre, after considering going into the priesthood, joining the Joint Stock Theatre Company before going on to the Royal Court Theatre where he took on the role of artistic director from 1982 to 1985.

He moved on to the role of Deputy Director as well as directed five Royal Shakespeare Company productions. He was also working in television during this time directing shows such as Arise And Go Now and Not Even God Is Wise Enough.

However it is on the big screen where he has found fame making his feature film directorial debut in 1994 in the small production Shallow Grave. Set in Edinburgh the black comedy brought together a cast of Ewan McGregor, Christopher and Kerry Fox as roommates.

After finally choosing a forth person to live with they find him dead on the floor with a suitcase full of cash. While trying to remove the body and extricate themselves from the situation, they wade hip-deep into a world of drugs, greed, and madness.

Following that was Boyle's most famous movie Trainspotting which followed a group of heroin addicts in the early nineties in the economically depressed Edinburgh, the film reunited him with actor Ewan McGregor.

The film received universal praise when it was released in the UK however it did cause controversy elsewhere as it was accused of glorifying drug use. It did enjoy some box office success but has since become a cult hit and one of the most influential British movies of all time.

It was nominated for three Baftas, including Best Picture, winning Best Adapted Screenplay. John Hodge's screenplay went on to be nominated at the Oscars.

Boyle ran with the Trainspotting success and made A Life Less Ordinary, which was designed to appeal to an American audience, however this backfired. His first step into Hollywood with The Beach also wasn't a success as the film, which starred man of the moment Leonardo DiCaprio was universally panned.

But in 2002 the post apocalyptic science film movie 28 Days Later was a massive hit as the £5 million to make film grossed over £82 million at the global box office. The film went on to have a successful sequel that Boyle didn't direct but had a producing role.

There was more success with Millions in 2004 received well by the critics when it premiered Toronto International Film Festival. The film went on to win Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards.

He followed this up with science fiction film Sunshine. Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star.

But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel. There is an accident, a fatal mistake, and a distress beacon from a spaceship that disappeared seven years earlier. Soon the crew is fighting not only for their lives, but their sanity

But it was slated by the critics and failed to make back it's $40 million budget.

But Boyle returns to the big screen with Slumdog Millionaire which has been picked up awards left, right and centre, most recently scooped five awards, including best picture, at the Critics' Choice Awards.

The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"

But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost.

Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show?

When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...

The film has won over the critics and finds itself nominated at the Golden Globes and could taste Oscar success.

Slumdog Millionaire is out now

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

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