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."