Trance is the
first film from Oscar winning Director Danny Boyle since he helmed the 2012
Olympic Opening Ceremony. Less than twelve months after performing the
seemingly impossible and creating a ceremony for which Britain could
be proud, Boyle is back to doing what he does best which is to make bloody good
films. Trance is a thriller/drama
starring James McAvoy as an art auctioneer who gets mixed up in a heist but
subsequently loses his memory. With an impatient gang behind him lead by the always
watchable Vincent Cassel, McAvoy’s Simon visits hypnotist Rosario Dawson to
unlock his missing memory and rediscover the lost Goya painting.
I saw a retrospective interview with Danny Boyle recently in
which his back catalogue was delved into. It suddenly dawned on me that he is
one of my favourite directors as I’ve enjoyed every single one of the seven (of
his nine) films I’ve seen. Additionally I’ve seen six of those seven more than
once and I’d put the likes of Trainspotting
and Slumdog Millionaire in amongst my
top 50 films of all time. Trance
won’t be entering my top 50 (if I actually had one) and isn’t a film I will be
in a rush to see again but I thought it was a taught, stylish and confusing
thriller which had me gripped from start to finish.
Initially I was a little worried about how much I was going
to be able to enjoy this movie. Not only were there a couple of loud, feet on
seats types in front of me in the cinema but the opening ten minutes or so
featured some of the most deafening music I’d heard in film. I can’t say
whether it was deliberate or just my particular screening but it was evident
that a lot of people were struggling with the volume of the electronic
soundtrack saturating the room from the giant speakers all around us. After a
few minutes the volume decreased slightly but it wasn’t very comfortable. If
deliberate then perhaps this was meant to prepare the audience for the often
uncomfortable viewing that it proceeded. There are occasional scenes of torture
and gore which included an early finger nail sequence which I couldn’t watch.
Aside from the very occasional gruesome scene the film’s tense atmosphere adds
to the discomfort before some unsettling final moments.
All too often I watch a thriller where fifteen minutes in
I’ve worked out a large part of the plot or an important twist. I’m pleased to
report that I was much less successful at doing this during Trance. There was something within the opening few minutes which I
predicted and I had my suspicions about other developments but I was never able
to spot the plot’s meandering path before we arrived at it. Instantly this
elevates the movie above those for which the twists and turns are too obvious
and it meant that I was constantly gripped rather than simply riding the waves
from A to B via a predictable stop off at C. I won’t go into the plot in detail
but I will say that it is dense and rewarding and rarely goes down an avenue
you were expecting. My opinion of characters altered several times and often I
thought I worked out where we were going, indicated left, checked my mirrors
and started turning the wheel only to find I was in fact turning right, driven by
a new development. This is what a thriller should do to you.
Only the other day I was praising Boyle’s Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire in a review and one
of my main points was the film’s style; it’s colour, look and design. Trance looks and feels completely
different but it is obvious that the movie is from the same director as that
film and 127 Hours. The film is
effortlessly stylish which I always feel is a difficult thing to pull off in a London setting. We have
grown accustomed to Michael Mann-esque stylish settings in the US but London
is often portrayed as either gritty in the cockney gangster films or as though
it’s always snowing and Big Ben is everywhere in romantic comedies. The TV show
Hustle was the first time I was
really wowed by London’s
glamorous and stylish side and in recent times films have tried to replicate
this. Trance comes on the back of The Sweeny and Welcome to the Punch, two films which I haven’t seen but attempted
to capture the sheen of twenty-first century London. Trance
pulls this off wonderfully and captures London
as the glass skinned, reflecting metropolis which is it. Much of the plot takes
place in the Docklands area which is now an expanse filled with artistically
designed offices and apartments and exudes wealth and new money. It’s the
perfect setting for a film like Trance.
Danny Boyle often performs a sort of juddering camera trick
which instantly puts you into one of his films. It’s as if he somehow keeps
half the frame still while jumping past other frames and is prevalent in all of
his recent movies. His camera movement combined with editing is also fantastic
here and the use of mirrors fractures and distorts characters in a pleasing and
tantalising way. There is nothing wrong with the way the visuals are presented
and Boyle once again shows what a master he is behind the camera. I do have a
problem however with the soundtrack. Not only is it overly obtrusive early on
but it just seems to throb throughout the entire movie, not in the background
but as though it is engulfing everything which it is intended to compliment.
There was nothing memorable about it and it simply existed, seemingly trying to
envelop the rest of the movie.
The acting too was somewhere where the film fails to excel.
James McAvoy is absolutely fine as the central character and I enjoyed his
early voiceover very much. He doesn’t really do anything wrong but like the
soundtrack he isn’t memorable. He manages the developments well and is always a
watchable screen presence but I couldn’t help wonder how the film would have
turned out with Boyle’s original casting of Michael Fassbender. I’d watch
Vincent Cassel watching paint dry and I think he is a tremendous actor but as
the sometimes villain of the piece he isn’t really a major force. He rarely
comes to the foreground and never quite fits with his surroundings. Rosario
Dawson glides through the film as though on a travelator of cloud. Her looks,
like her profession are hypnotic and I was ordered to close my eyes by my
girlfriend during a couple of her more ‘visually exciting’ scenes. She often
carries the movie and is vital to piecing everything together. She maintained a
poker face while being shrouded in mystery as the other actors flapped around
her calm exterior.
Overall I really enjoyed Trance.
It is incredibly stylish and attractive and the plot had me scratching my head.
There is more than enough violence, sex and plot to satisfy everyone’s tastes
and Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography beautifully compliments Danny Boyle’s
distinctive style. The film falls down in a couple of places but kept me
perplexed and entertained until the final frames and I’m glad to have Boyle
back behind the camera again.
8/10
GFR 10/10
Titbits
- Principle photography wrapped before the Olympics and post production began again in August 2012 which is how the film has come to the cinema so soon after Boyle's Olympic duties.
- Colin Firth was considered for the role of Frank, eventually given to Vincent Cassel.
- The film is loosely based on a 2001 TV show of the same name.
I just had to comment on you remark:
ReplyDelete"I couldn’t help wonder how the film would have turned out with Boyle’s original casting of Michael Fassbender".
I can understand why James didn't wow you then if you are thinking about MF. I guess you didn't know that he was not up for the role Mr. McAvoy has. It was for the character Mr. Cassel plays and since you think he was great in it no need to wonder.
I can't wait to see this film and enjoy every single moment of the charismatic actor, James McAvoy is on the screen.
You are right, I misread Fassbender's casting. I didn't read that though until after I saw the film so it wasn't in my mind while watching. I think McAvoy is good but he just didn't stand out.
Delete