You can almost feel the 180-degree turn in Danny Boyle‘s latest thriller “Trance” — away from the good-natured optimism of the Olympic opening ceremonies that took up his past few years, and into a much darker, naughtier corner. It’s a refreshing turn from the director — even while the film doesn’t track among his best — and also one that he believes embodies the type of cinema that’s escaped screens as of late.
Interviewed during the press rounds for “Trance,” Boyle rightfully pointed to the ’70s as a “great heyday of filmmaking,” and also praised his favorite film director, Nicolas Roeg, in leading the charge for bold cinema. “Roeg made a series of films through that era that were just astonishing… adult films, with adult themes, adult violence, adult sexuality. We’ve lost that, or we’re in danger of losing it.”
One of the prime examples, Boyle says, is “Star Wars,” and while he acknowledges “they are great movies, especially the first three,” he says they’ve also led to a ” ‘Pixar-ification’ of movies.” He adds, “Pixar make great movies — don’t get me wrong, they are very sophisticated storytellers. But they are family friendly, and that’s the danger, if you put ‘Star Wars,’ Pixar, and these big action movies together. They have violence in them but not violence that hurts… it’s kind of spinning tops.”
Boyle certainly makes some interesting points (he and Steven Soderbergh would make a fantastic TED co-talk), especially when he claims cable television is “much more dangerous than what you see in cinema, and that’s the wrong way around.” Do you think “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad,” and “Mad Men” are where cutting-edge storytelling now lives? Or is cinema safely dangerous as long as Lars von Trier is around? Check the full clip out below, and let us know. [via SlashFilm]
