Sound And Vision: Danny Boyle
In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week we look at Iggy Pop's Lust for Life, directed by Danny Boyle.
It is somewhat baffling to me that Danny Boyle has only made one music video, and it is a tie-in to his film Trainspotting. Boyle is an avid music aficionado, and often has tie-in tracks to his films, like All Saint's Pure Shores for The Beach and Beck's Deadweight for A Life Less Ordinary (the music video of which was directed by no one other than Michel Gondry).
Music plays a large role in films like Slumdog Millionaire, with its Bollywood inspired soundtrack and M.I.A.-centerpiece; 28 Days Later's central use of Godspeed You Black Emperor, the Young Fathers contributions to 28 Weeks Later and Trainspotting 2, the latter also featuring contributions from the likes of The Rubberbandits en Wolf Alice; A.R Rahman's and Sigur Ros on the soundtrack of 127 Hours, and off course the entire premise of Yesterday, which is about the heartbreak of a Beatles-less world. And his most recent television series Pistols, is all about punk music. So that Boyle has only done just one music video is a bit odd.
Even odder is how slight the music video is, at first glance. It is a music video for Iggy Pop's classic track Lust for Life, made twenty years after the fact. The resurgence of the song was somewhat of an "I told you so" for Iggy Pop, who felt that the song would be a tremendous success, and had to wait two decades for it to reach the heights of popularity he foresaw for it. In Joe Ambrose's Gimme Danger: The Story of Iggy Pop, he is quoted as: "When I made Lust for Life, I really thought America was gonna rock to this motherfucker. And it took 20 fuckin' years which is a really long time to wait. (...)All of a sudden, - a few years ago when Trainspotting came out - I was walkin' down the street and I'd heard Raw Power comin' out of the bars."
Lust for Life finally gave Iggy Pop's song the music video that was sorely needed for it, and off course it ties in to Trainspotting's success. The famous images of the film's marketing campaign, where Renton is shown in a stark white background, is aped, by having Pop perform the song on the same void-like stage. He mugs about the room, half-naked, making silly faces and doing some wild dance moves. Clips from Trainspotting are spliced in throughout, as are quotes from the movie.
Watching the video a few times it eventually clicked: this is not so much Iggy Pop finally getting his due, as it is marketing for how Trainspotting made it so. And therein lies the rub, cause that is what ties this music video stylistically to Boyle's oeuvre, and elevates it beyond just a mere loose hangout video with Mr. Pop. Because this video made me realize that Danny Boyle is not just a director: he is a marketeer. His films are about branding, in some ways. Lest we forget that the man directed the opening ceremony for the London Olympics in 2012.
Boyle's most recent output has been discredited for wearing nostalgia goggles. You have the premise of Yesterday, which is all about music not being what it used to be. You have Trainspotting 2 and 28 Years Later, which return to the well of some of Boyle's biggest hits. You have Steve Jobs, a hagiography in some ways about the guy who made Apple. But more than harping on boomerish subject matter, these are films that are about 'branding'. Trainspotting 2 is all about self-improvement as a drug, the idea of personal branding as addictive and a downfall. Steve Jobs is more than just a hagiography, it is about how a man becomes an icon and loses his humanity in the process. Yesterday was about pop music and the industry's use and misuse of talent and music at times, where branding is both a blessing and a curse, that can distract from true talent but also can help forge it.
I haven't seen 28 Years Later yet, but given that 28 Days Later is a film that was easily marketed by its haunting opening segment ánd shooting method (early digital cameras) the marketing was strong there too. I have seen loads of articles about 28 Years Later being shot on 20 Iphones, furthering the idea of stylistic choices as a marketing option for Boyle. Boyle's films often ride on one or two stark, big images, that lend itself to easy marketing. That the one music video he made fits the brand he helped design for his break-out film is telling. Boyle is a great director, but he is an even better salesman.
