The Danny Boyle that the public sees and the Danny Boyle that Boyle sees when he looks in the mirror are two very different people. As the director of “The Beach,” “28 Days Later,” “Millions.” Sunshine,” “Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours,” Boyle is one of the most fascinating and successful directors working today. Yet Danny Boyle doesn’t consider himself a “real director.” Despite his Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs, Boyle still sees himself as “an outsider,” someone who doesn’t fit in to the big picture of Hollywood.
There’s an idea in the film business that most good directors tend to stick to the same idea, the same basic story, and tell it over and over again. Terry Gilliam (“The Fisher King,” “12 Monkeys”) a notoriously strong-headed artiste is constantly telling stories about a man who the world sees as mad, fighting to prove that he isn’t insane and that he can succeed. David Fincher (“Fight Club,” “The Social Network”) who famously told an actress “I have demons you can't even imagine,” creates a powerfully flawed protagonist then relishes in their slow demise. But then there’s Danny Boyle, a director who is notoriously difficult to pin down. Boyle realizes this and relishes it. In a recent interview he said “There's a certain truth that you do end up making the same film again and again so if you vary the genre you have a chance of breaking that cycle.” Because Boyle has realized this, and thinks about it with each of his films, he is a fascinating director to analyze and try to understand.
Like many artists, Boyle uses his work as therapy. Watching Boyle work through his psychological wounds on film is a fascinating adventure that becomes even more intriguing when you look into Boyle's past and his own ideology.
