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Thursday, October 15, 2009

catholic imagination/danny boyle

I was struck by what a Catholic film 28 Days Later was. Went looking for info about the director, Danny Boyle, who also directed Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, etc., and was not surprised that he says:
“I was meant to be a priest until I was 14.... But this priest... took me aside and said, ‘I don’t think you should go [to seminary]’. Whether he was saving me from the priesthood, or the priesthood from me, I don’t know.
But quite soon after, I started doing drama. And there’s a real connection, I think. All these directors — Martin Scorsese, John Woo, M. Night Shyamalan — they were all meant to be priests. There’s something very theatrical about it. It’s basically the same job — poncing around, telling people what to think.”
--Danny Boyle

Scorsese is more obvious, as his characters often are Catholic (Irish or Italian).
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it."
--Martin Scorsese's voiceover, opening lines of Mean Streets (1973)

Harvey Keitel's character: “You don’t fuck around with the infinite."
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5 comments:

  1. momoOctober 15, 2009 at 11:42 AM

    One of my favorite actors, Gabriel Byrne, also left the seminary, although he didn't become an actor until later! I love that description:"poncing around, telling people what to think."

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  2. ArtSparkerOctober 15, 2009 at 12:28 PM

    I found the ending of the M. Night Shyamalan film about the crop circles to be quite specious, that is , Mel Gibson making some kind of deal with God to cure his son's asthma...but I have trouble with Shyamalan 's dialogue in any case.

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  3. deannaOctober 15, 2009 at 5:07 PM

    I just first saw Slumdog Millionaire yesterday. Found it to be a morality tale.

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  4. deannaOctober 15, 2009 at 5:09 PM

    Oh, and I just read your H.G. Wells quote, and it is the truest thing I've read today. (Now back to critique group.)

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  5. FrescaOctober 15, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    MOMO: I wonder how many Irishmen (of our generation, anyway) were NOT in seminary or headed that way at one point? : )

    ART Sparker: The only MNS film I've seen was "Sixth Sense," which still gives me the shivers.

    bio.com says: "Shyamalan, who was raised a Hindu, attended a Catholic private school and Philadelphia's Episcopal Academy before becoming a film major..."

    So, he's got ecumenical training in poncing around!

    DEANNA: Yeah, Boyle's stuff is very moralistic (maybe sometimes even a touch too much?). My favorite is "Millions" where it fits perfectly as it's about a boy's faith. My favorite thing about Slumdog was the editing!

    Heh, heh... yes, the passion to alter other people's draft... that quote delights me.

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