Facts: Danny Boyle
Age: 65 years.
Family: Three children.
Lives: In London.
Occupation: Director.
Previous films in selection: “Trainspotting”, “28 Days Later”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, “127 Hours”, “Yesterday”.
Current: With the TV series “Pistol” streaming on Disney+ from September 8.
Danny Boyle speaks with emotion about how the Sex Pistols shocked Britain in the 1970s.
— They started a revolution that shook the nation. They ignored everything, they managed to shake the bars around Buckingham Palace, says the Oscar-winning director. But adds with a laugh:
— Although I was more of a Clash fan than a Sex Pistols fan.
However, the TV series “Pistol” is about the Sex Pistols, not about The Clash. It consists of six parts and will be streamed on Disney+ starting on September 8. Danny Boyle is not entirely happy with this fact.
— Actually, it shouldn’t be on a streaming channel, it should be available to everyone – this is a story that belongs to everyone. But I shouldn’t have said that, now I’m not allowed to work for a streaming channel again.
Danny Boyle is known for films like “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. Now he has taken on the Sex Pistols phenomenon. Stock Photo.”Most Censored Ever”
The Sex Pistols formed in 1975 and became one of the leading punk rock bands. The band existed in its original form for just over two years, but managed to reach number one in the UK charts with its only album, “Never mind the bollocks”, and had seven singles on the chart. Most talked about was “God save the queen”, which was not allowed to be played on the BBC and which is said to be the most censored song ever in England.
— England in the early 70s was extremely boring. You were either young or old. There was nothing in between, says Danny Boyle.
He believes that the Sex Pistols wanted to create chaos and represented a kind of counterculture in England.
— They couldn’t really play, they came from the streets, they hadn’t attended any art schools. With the help of their manager Malcom McLaren, they created chaos which in turn created music. If they had been formed today, they would have gone in to be countermeasures. It is in the human soul to want to attack, to create a change.
The rot went to court
Most of the actors are unknown, the only one we recognize is Thomas Brodie-Sangster from among others “Love actually” and “Game of thrones”, who plays Malcolm McLaren. A number of iconic figures from the period are included, such as Vivienne Westwood, Chrissie Hynde and Richard Branson.
The series is largely based on Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones’ book “Lonely boy”, which came out in 2017. Jones and Paul Cook, who was the band’s drummer, are backing the series. However, John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten, does not. He went to court to prevent Boyle from using the group’s music, but lost, and has said in an interview that “Boyle should be ashamed”.
Before filming, Danny Boyle tried to contact him, but was unsuccessful. Now he says:
— I hope he will see the series and realize how much we love what he did.