Trance

Down time for Danny Boyle seems to consist of making awesome films...

                                                 McAvoy was going to scare the shit out of the postman

DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle

CAST: Young Professor X, that French guy who's in everything just so that he can scream at people in French when he's angry, and one of the many whores of Sin City...

PLOT: Off the back of shouldering the pride and cynicism of the entire nation, Danny Boyle remembers that he makes films - this one's about an auctioneer (McAvoy) who screws over some art thieves (Cassel, et al.), but he takes a bang to the noggin and can't remember a thing. Enter an American chick who happens to be a hypnotherapist (Dawson), who attempts to help the hapless auctioneer remember where he put the expensive bit of painting.

'Trance' strikes me as one of those rarest of things - a British film that isn't just for the British. That's probably helped by the fact that two of the main characters are American and French, but it always makes a welcome change to see a film which has been made in England which isn't about Cockney gangsters or kitchen-sink dramatics. Those sorts of films are at times all fine and good, but one does sometimes wish for more from UK talent, something like, oh I don't know, a hedonistic head fucker of a film that will assault your senses and morality. Yep, something we can all enjoy.

The plot is a puzzle as much as the film is itself. It's both simple, but add a hypnotherapist to the mix and it quickly becomes complicated at the same time. It's a wonder that nobody had ever done it. All of the characters from the talented cast are rubik's cubes who surely won't be cracked, as their likability, motivations and moral compasses are all over the place. If all of this confusion is too much for you, simply watch it for one man, the star of the show - Danny Boyle.

Where the film may be unbalanced when it comes to themes and the characters are mostly unlikable throughout, making it difficult to connect, not once can you fault Danny Boyle's ability to craft an entertaining and stylistically addictive film. The look is brilliant, completely catching the essence and the steeliness of London; it also makes sense to set such a crazy narrative in the city, as it's near enough impossible not to get lost in the English capital at one point or another. The editing is masterful, hitting all of the right beats when combining with a booming score that will surely get the blood pumping. Boyle manipulates your excitement seemingly as easy as it is to turn a dial.

                        Early fame for One Direction led to some bad decisions at the cosmetic surgeons

Two scenes where his impeccable talent shines, one at the beginning, one at the end. The first is the opening - the heist voiced over by McAvoy's charismatic, smarmy auctioneer as he talks us through the instructions on what to do if involved in an art heist: "No piece of art is worth a human life." The cinematography is to die for, the editing and music will keep you on the edge of your seat, it will hit you like a shotgun to the temple and you won't want the heist to ever end. You'd be forgiven for arguing that the highlight of the show comes too early, that the film can never match up to it.

The other scene that could compete for being the stand-out of the film comes at the end during the dramatic climax (don't worry, you're safe from spoilers here). But much like the previous description, it is once again down to the fact that the shots are engaging, the music increases in tension to breaking point, and the cuts are timed perfectly. If you're not a fan of the story here, at least watch it for the way the film has been made.

As Danny Boyle seems to have gone all-out to have some fun and show off a bit, you can't blame him after all of the stress he must have had for the Olympics. The feeling has it that this is a project that he's wanted to get done for quite some time but perhaps hasn't been allowed to by producers. But Boyle can pretty much do whatever the fuck he likes now so if he wants to show a man get shot in the meat and two veg then who's going to argue?

But despite the mixed reactions to the story, I would argue that it is still engaging when followed closely with all of your attention. It's interesting to try and guess the characters motives throughout, and it constantly begs the question - who's story really is this? as the film rages on a clear protagonist is lost and everyone generally becomes a bit of a dick. This isn't out of place for a Boyle film, he even often managed to make one of the most recent American heroes look like a bit of a dick in '127 Hours'. The point is, nobody is perfect, and not everyone is certainly what they seem. 

'Trance' may well serve as a very important film for the British film industry, proving that if you want a thriller with guns and explosions, you don't have to rely on the US to give you your fill. The only difference is, Boyle gives you guns and explosions with added intelligence.

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