Review of Shallow Grave (1994) by Lorenzo V — 20 Mar 2010
"Victory is the same as defeat. It's giving in to destructive competitive urges.".
Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.
REVIEW.
This kind of film-making is so rote now (see: that ferocious opening sprint through the streets of Edinburgh to a pounding Leftfield soundtrack), it's tricky to recall how new and exciting it all seemed at the time. But when this brilliant black comedy burst out of the traps in 1994, it almost single-handedly became the spearhead for a new kind of British movie-making. Which was ironic, really, because the film that introduced a young Obi-Wan and a future Dr Who to audiences actually owed rather more to the then burgeoning US indie scene: the likes of Hal Hartley, Joel and Ethan Coen, and, especially, a certain gabby video store clerk with a hotline to Harvey Keitel.
For writer John Hodge, and producer Andrew MacDonald, movies should be tight. Funny. Quirky. With no boring bits. Former TV drama director Danny Boyle was the perfect chap to realise their vision, bringing a much-missed element of pure 'fun' (remember that?) to proceedings, along with a few directorial calling cards that would soon become instantly recognisable: hyper-kinetic camera-work and a near-hallucinogenic ambiance, sexy Tarantino-style violence, a hipster soundtrack... and suitcases full of money. Sound familiar?
This review of Shallow Grave (1994) was written by Lorenzo V on 20 Mar 2010.
Shallow Grave has generally received very positive reviews.
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