‘Open grave’, a Scottish ‘thriller’ with very black humor

Ewan McGregor, in ‘Open Grave’.

debut

Danny Boyle’s debut was born from the friendship of two inexperienced young people who, with a script under their arms, were looking for someone to put it on

After studying at the University of Wales, Danny Boyle (Manchester, October 20, 1956) joined the BBC where he directed series such as’ Inspector Morse ‘or’ Mr. Wroe’s Virgins’. Through the actor Ewan McGregor, he came into contact with Andrew MacDonald and John Hodge, who were then two young inexperienced in the profession who, solely with his enthusiasm and a solid script under their arms, were looking for someone who could take him to the screen.

Hodge, the author of that script he titled ‘Open Grave’, had studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After going through various hospitals practicing as a doctor, he abandons everything for a while to be able to write. His contact with the cinema was solely as a spectator, always fascinated by the way of narrating Hollywood cinema. It is in those months of hiatus as a doctor, when he writes the script. “When I first started writing, I had seen a succession of American films that had in common a small group of people trying to resolve their differences for a short period of time,” recalls Hodge. “In the script of ‘Open Tomb’ it was important that something happened every couple of pages. In this way the story progresses so rapidly that there is no time for the characters to question the good and the bad of their actions. They just act.

Andrew MacDonald was also a man who wanted to be a producer, but to whom the world of cinema was no stranger. Grandson of the legendary filmmaker Emeric Pressburger, he had entered the world of cinema as an assistant to the National Film and Television School. At the end of 1985 he moved to the United States to study at the American Film Institute. Upon his return to England he works as an assistant director on ‘Venus Peter’ and head of locations on ‘The Long Day Ends’, by Terence Davies. It is then when he meets John Hodge, starting a great friendship with him. The two had common interests: Hodge a script looking for a producer, and MacDonald, a producer looking for a product to move.

Danny Boyle was the last to join the trio. He had triumphed as the director of the series’ Mr. Wroe’s Virgins’ and had a technical team ready to follow him on any adventure. His friend actor Ewan McGregor puts him in touch with Hodge and MacDonald by teaming up with them to create a film that had a good script and good BBC trained technicians. Contrary to most of what is written in Britain for television or film, the script was very simple, very dynamic and did not carry a lot of history or moral baggage. Despite its very British setting, there was something American about the momentum of the narrative. It is a story that constantly surprises, in addition to lending itself wonderfully to the cinema, “recalled Danny Boyle, whom his friend, the New Zealand actress Kerry Fox, who had just triumphed with ‘An angel at my table’, gave the last accolade to direct the film.

‘Open Grave’ follows three roommates who find a suitcase full of money in the room of a mysterious new tenant, who has just died of an overdose. Instead of calling the police, they decide to keep the money, a decision that involves not only disposing of the body, but also having each of them trust the other two. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox and Christopher Eccleston. The production is in charge of Channel 4 television, and the distribution of Polygram that, as in other occasions, generated a great amount of publicity for the film with a very limited budget of two and a half million dollars. The film is filmed in 1993 in Glasgow because the Glasgow Film Fund gave financial aid of £ 150,000.

The film is presented in the competition at the San Sebastian Festival, where Boyle wins the Silver Shell for best director. Before it goes through the Edinburgh festival in August 1994, which marks the premiere in Great Britain, where it is enshrined as ‘a Scottish thriller’, its macabre humor combined with a powerful suspense is praised, and it is compared to the Hitchcock film ‘But who killed Harry?’

Boyle would once again team up with Ewan McGregor, Andrew MacDonald and John Hodge in his next film, ‘Trainspotting’, which would already establish him worldwide.