Written by Philip Kemp
Translator: Qin Tian
Proofreader: Yi 23
Source: Criterion (June 13, 2012)
In the early '90s, mainstream British cinema seemed to be immersed in a cozy quagmire of works by Austin and Dickens – well-made, well-acted, perfectly bound adaptations of classical literature, "heritage films" that were safe and open to all.
The dynamism of the 80s of the 20th century has dissipated, and this period has produced works of very different styles such as "The Long and Beautiful Friday", "Chariots of Fire", "Gandhi", "The Wolf Family" and "My Beautiful Laundry".
My Beautiful Laundry
Mike Lee and Ken Lodge are still at their best of their creation, although their politically conscious and socially realistic works were never intended for the masses.
In this environment, three up-and-coming filmmakers – director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge and producer Andrew McDonald produced their first film, Shallow Grave – which, in Boyle's words, changed the situation by shedding "the moral baggage that British cinema has always had".
"Shallow Grave"
John Hodge was still studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and after meeting MacDonald at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1991, Hodge decided to try his hand at screenwriting. MacDonald has an incomparably pure "film pedigree": his grandfather is Hungarian director and screenwriter Emerick Presberg, and his younger brother is the famous director Kevin MacDonald.
Boyle is the oldest brother in the family, and as a stage play/film director, he has left many impressive productions on audiences over the years. When Boyle read the script for "Shallow Grave" in 1993, he was thrilled.
Danny Boyle
He once said the script was "wonderful—concise and caustic, and neat to read." At the invitation, he met Hodge and MacDonald — both of whom were looking for the right people to shoot the story. Danny Boyle recalls that the first word that popped into his mouth was "Blood Labyrinth", and the film played a key role in promoting the narrative of "Shallow Grave".
"Blood Labyrinth"
During the writing process, Hodge set most of the scene in the same space—an apartment in the elegant Georgian district of Edinburgh's New Town. The crew reproduced the interior of the apartment in a warehouse in Glasgow, which was a little more spacious than the real residence, and all the details looked the same.
During the weeks of rehearsals leading up to filming, Boyle brought a growing sense of closeness and casualness to the shoot by letting the film's three main actors—Christopher Ecclestone, Carey Fox and Ewan McGregor—live in similar apartments.
Despite the limited budget, the collaborative style and consistent perspective of producers, writers, and directors (relatively rare in filmmaking) create a film with a strong narrative and strong intentions. The single-scene narrative enhances the sense of compactness and claustrophobia of "Shallow Grave". The residents of this apartment are professionals in their 20s. David (Ecclestone) is an accountant; Juliet (Fox) is a hospital doctor; Alex (McGregor) is a tabloid reporter.
"Shallow Grave"
As the plot develops and tensions build, the three men cooperate with each other like musicians, hovering between the boundaries of sexual attraction, greed, and power. At first, the arrogant and impudent Alex (this is only McGregor's second on-screen role and the first with substance) seems to lead the male group, and no one takes the slightly dull David in their eyes, and Juliet slowly realizes the unspoken desires of the two men for her. But under pressure, the relationship and status between the three of them quietly changed.
Boyle's reference to the Coen brothers' directorial debut was so successful. "Shallow Grave" also shows the dark humor of the Coen brothers' films, also sets a clockwork tight plot, and gradually develops it into a chaos and disaster.
Like Blood Labyrinth, Shallow Grave is witty and stylish, full of energy, and cruelty is its greatest feature. (At one point, Boyle titled the film "Cruel.") None of the characters are likable, and they don't exist to make the audience like; As McGregor later said, "The accepted rule in movies is that you have to empathize with the protagonist, but we wanted to break that rule."
"Shallow Grave"
The creator of "Shallow Grave" portrays the characters without emotion is refreshing; No simple excuse was provided. At the film's release, Boyle stressed that "this is not a film about class or society, or about people being crushed by forces beyond their control." Everyone is responsible for their own decisions. We don't want this to be just a work steeped in British social realism."
Even so, as the director later admitted, the underlying political implications of "Shallow Grave" are undoubtedly obvious: "What it actually tells is still very relevant to British society at the time." It's not a straightforward political film, but it's deeply embedded in Britain's post-Thatcher decadence. Greed, inflated, hedonistic, selfish, individualistic. It seems that there is nothing to worship except money."
The key point that drives the plot is that the trio begins to search for a fourth roommate. With calm arrogance, they put the people who come looking for a house through an awkward and painful "rental interview", and they embarrass the cowardly housekeepers before rudely rejecting them in order to please themselves. (One of the rejection roles was played by McGregor's mother.) ）
Only Hugo (Keith Allen), who looks melancholy but is very personable, meets their criteria. Just a few hours after Hugo moved in, they were surprised to find that he had died of a drug overdose. There was a suitcase under his bed with a large sum of money in it.
David appears hesitant, while Juliet and Alex decide they should swallow the money and bury Hugo's body in the woods, chop off his hands and feet, and brutally smash his teeth to prevent his body from being recognized.
Audiences familiar with the play must understand that ill-gotten gains will eventually bring murder to their owners. (Boyle also explored the relationship between great wealth and individuals in his later book, Slumdog Millionaire.) As what happens in this apartment becomes more complex, we see a ruthless mob, Andy (Peter Mullan) and Tim (Leonard O'Malley), beating and torturing various victims in the process of tracking down Hugo's money. We know that sooner or later the two sides will come together, but how this collision will develop is not so easy to predict.
Boyle has defiantly pointed out that the film "should be as much as possible like a car accident, and show the ultimate beauty and violence." Almost as striking as the film's corrosive energy is the disturbing beauty of its images—something that will characterize the Boyle style. When the dead Hugo was found, he was naked, face up, with his limbs spread out, lying on a blood-red blanket against a background of royal blue – a scene with the cool tones of Caravaggio's paintings.
As David increasingly (and justifiably) showed his paranoia about money and retreated to the attic to prepare for his defensive battle, he drilled numerous peepholes in the attic floor to monitor activity in the apartment at all times. Pillars of light downstairs shoot into the dark attic from different angles, eerily hinting at the topography of this "wartime city", which is blocked off except for searchlights dangling in the sky.
At the 1994 Dinard British Film Festival, "Shallow Grave" won the "Golden Hitchcock Award", the festival's jury prize. It's fitting to associate the film with the work of the master of suspense – not because of the suspense that Shallow Grave barely touches, but because of its presentation of the details of death and dismemberment. (I think of 1955's The Strange Corpse, which also had a scene of disposing of corpses, and Barry Foster's 1972 scene in "Berserk" breaking the victim's finger.)
"Strange Corpse Case"
When David accepted the lottery and was forced to dismember Hugo's body, the sound of hacksaw slashing across a person's wrist bone made his scalp tingle. "Shallow Grave" shows them moving a corpse down a narrow stairwell, a sense of coercion rarely portrayed in this way. As the trio awkwardly move bodies around in black plastic wraps, their actions contrast with the elegant Georgian staircase, making the scene extremely impactful.
Some seemingly idle plot elements, such as torn newspapers being exchanged for currency, are actually serious material, like Ken Stott's puzzled police inspector.
"Shallow Grave"
However, Stott played the role with impeccable acting, and the film's screenwriter, John Hodge, played his step-by-step partner, police officer Mitchell, adding another joke to the film. ("Mitchell is a rising star," Stott said.) "Under my guidance, he will undoubtedly go further." When Juliet expressed her disgust at the idea of dismembering Hugo's body, Alex replied, "Come on Juliet, you're a doctor, and you're killing every day."
The sleek, streamlined narrative of "Shallow Grave" omits any superfluous explanation. We never know if this apartment used to have a fourth occupant, and if so, what his or her ending would be. Similarly, the film does not explain how the two felons tracked Hugo's apartment. These details don't seem to matter.
However, "Shallow Grave" also pays tribute to some classic films. David's voiceover at the beginning and end of the film ("Oh yes, I believe in friends") is reminiscent of Sunset Boulevard; In one clip, we see Alex watching the final scene of The Infidel on TV, a grim, Scottish film.
"Sunset Boulevard"
"Shallow Grave" has received widespread acclaim, and in addition to the Kihch Kirk Award, it also won a series of awards such as the British Academy Film Award for Best British Film that year, and is regarded as an exciting new breakthrough in British cinema.
"Shallow Grave"
The cost of "Shallow Grave" is not high, but it has won more than ten times the box office results, and has become the leader of British local films that year. Boyle, Hodge and MacDonald are delighted with the success of the first collaboration. Two years later, they collaborated on another film that once again broke the dullness of British cinema, which is known as "Guess the Train".