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LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Danny Boyle stunned the world
with his spectacular Olympics opening ceremony but the
Hollywood-feted filmmaker has won over his own country and
enhanced his place among the nation's cultural elite with his
unpretentious approach to life.
Boyle, 55, was initially considered an odd choice to devise
the ceremony that would showcase Britain to the world and set
the tone for the 2012 Games.
After all, he had shot to fame with the stark 1996 film
"Trainspotting" with its gritty portrayal of heroin addicts in
working-class Edinburgh and an unforgettable Ewan McGregor
diving into a filthy toilet to retrieve drugs.
His rags-to-riches movie "Slumdog Millionaire", which won
him an Oscar in 2008, also depicted the harsh reality of life,
with graphic images of Indian street children woven into an
upbeat story about an underdog beating the odds.
But Olympics organisers insisted Boyle's experience, energy,
passion for England and unusual vision made him the perfect man
for the job. They were proved right.
Boyle's 27 million pound ($42 million) extravaganza was
acclaimed internationally for highlighting the essence of
Britain by mixing history, culture and humour in a technically
stunning show.
It was tough to follow the extravagant opening ceremony by
Beijing four years ago but Boyle pulled it off.
As with his movies, he used a frenzied, high energy and
compulsive soundtrack during the opening ceremony, deploying
self-deprecating humour to highlight Britain's quirkiness with
fake clouds, dancing nurses and neon doves on bikes.
But his coup of the evening was starring Queen Elizabeth in
a film with James Bond actor Daniel Craig, with this link to
royalty cementing the position of the independent filmmaker
unfazed by Hollywood glitz in the top echelons of British
popular culture.
QUEEN'S FRIEND
Boyle has modestly played down his role in the Olympics,
saying his part was just the warm-up for the main show -- the
athletes -- while praising the thousands of volunteer
performers. His volunteers have in turn praised him, amazed at
his down-to-earth manner as he chatted with them all.
Despite much media scrutiny by a harsh British press, no one
has stepped forward to say a bad word about Boyle who has
discarded a religious upbringing along the way but talks about
the values and work ethic he derived from his working class
background in northern England.
He said at the Olympics he wanted to give back to Britain
and to London and included workers, unions, and hospital staff
in the show as they are so important to the country.
"This country and this city ... has given me everything I've
got in my life, apart from my upbringing which was in Manchester
and the values I got from that," he told reporters.
"In terms of opportunities I've had in my life, this city,
which I'm very proud to live in, has given me everything."
Boyle was born into a working-class Catholic family with
Irish parents in Radcliffe in Greater Manchester where he
recalls growing up going to the cinema.
After being an altar boy, he considered becoming a priest
but instead went to university to study English.
Boyle has said he had never been in a theatre until he was
18 but it seemed an easier way t o get into the arts so he left
university without completing his degree to join London's Joint
Stock Theatre Company, known for cutting-edge plays.
From there in 1982 he joined the Royal Court Theatre in
London as artistic director and also directed five productions
for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1987 he began directing
for television, making TV films and serials.
But his break into movies came in 1994 with "Shallow Grave",
a darkly humorous thriller about three friends who find their
roommate dead and loaded with cash. It was a hit in Britain and
won several European film festival awards.
"Trainspotting" two years later brought Boyle fame and was
credited with changing the image of British cinema which was
more known for its lavish, literary film productions.
But despite finding fame, Boyle wasn't dazzled by the bright
lights of Hollywood. He turned down several high-profile offers
-- including a chance to direct a film in the "Alien" series --
to concentrate on his own work.
He brought out "A Life Less Ordinary" in 1997, a romantic
comedy but it did have the same success as his earlier films.
A foray into Hollywood in 2000 with "The Beach" starring
Leonardo DiCaprio about an American looking for a secret island
in Thailand inhabited by marijuana farmers, stumbled.
His career took an unexpected turn with a sci-fi horror
movie, "28 Days Later" in 2002 about a deadly virus spread by
chimpanzees and he moved into full sci-fi mode in 2007 with
"Sunshine" which failed to impress at the box office.
But he made his mark again in 2008 with "Slumdog
Millionaire" which was rewarded with eight Oscars.
Since then he can do no wrong with high praise for his 2010
movie "127 Hours" about mountain climber Aron Ralston who severs
his own hand to free himself after getting trapped by a boulder.
Last year Boyle returned to the theatre with rave reviews
for his version of "Frankenstein" at the National Theatre.
Now his Olympics showpiece has won him plaudits across
Britain -- and a flurry of bets that he will be knighted by the
queen in the New Year Honours List.
(Editing by Jason Neely)