Deep in Trance: A Conversation with Danny Boyle, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson
Danny Boyle´s new film, Trance, invites the audience to a journey searching for lost memories. When the carefully planned robbery to an art auction house goes awry, this story turns into an intriguing psychological thriller than explores the complexities of the subconscious.
On the film´s recent press day, Entertainment Affair sat down with actors Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel and Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle. At the round table interviews, they discussed in depth details about his unique mind tease.
One of the most important elements in this story is the cast: James McAvoy (Simon), Vincent Cassel (Franck) and Rosario Dawson (Elizabeth). A trio of complex characters, which unravel throughout the film: an amnesic thief, a violent gangster and a talented hypnotherapist. “The thing that I think is interesting is that we had these three actors. Because normally I don’t really work with three established, experienced actors like that, but it's the kind of script where you really needed it and they were fantastic together. I really enjoyed working with them cause they are smart, the three of them. It is a complicated story and they have to keep a grip on it, which they did. So they use their intelligence to do it,” Boyle explains.
This film goes back and forth between reality and trance state. To create the rhythm and aesthetics of the story, director Danny Boyle relies on several elements: vivid images, non-linear narrative and detailed sound design among others. This story is one filled with hidden clues and secrets. To create uncertainty, Boyle uses reflective surfaces as a constant visual resource. He talks about the use of reflections in the film: “You start off, thinking how can you send a subconscious signal to the audience not to believe exactly what they are seeing and of course you do that through reflections, natural reflections. You begin to assemble this baggage that you are seeing double and triple. And it is kind of telling you subconsciously that is not the only story there is. Other things are going on here.”
The Academy Award winning director, talked about his technique to visually translate what goes on inside the human mind, “All the films that I make are realistic. They are not abstract. But you try to have that realism stretched so tight that its kind of slightly heightened, and it allows you to jump in to the surreal. Into a half head or into a guy disappearing out a toilet.” He also mentions Francisco de Goya’s work not only as a crucial element in the film but also as an inspiration when building the movie’s imagery. “Goya as we say on the film is the first modernist. It's the first guy that painted the inside of the mind. He is the first great psychological painter,” said Boyle. Goya’s use of realistic images to build a surreal story is translated to the visual concept of Trance.
In this film hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming are the narrative resources used to unleash the mysteries of the mind. Actors, Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel, approached the subject very differently. As the hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb, Dawson researched extensively about this discipline. She even submitted herself to be hypnotized. “I can feel that is like magic. Hypnotherapists that understand people who can read them, who do that king of research on a regular basis Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock.” She also adds, “It's a different level of intelligence. It's a different level of understanding. There are people who understand that our brains work in certain kind of loops and no matter what issue you have I can probably can help you with that. It is pretty outrageous and kind of amazing.” On the other hand Vincent Cassel, who portrays a gangster named Franck, has a very different vision of the process: “This is not really problem of my character, you know my character is just like the audience, he doesn’t really know anything about that, he doesn’t really believe that it works. He is a non-believer. So, yes we had somebody come in, we had two weeks of rehearsal where we were talking more about the script, than the actual hypnotherapy. I am not a good subject for this kind of thing, I am sorry,” the actor says.
“Danny is someone who lapses from genre to genre and he does it in such a compelling way where he sorts of reinvent the story or genre that he is playing with,” commented Dawson, while talking about Danny Boyle’s storytelling style. With Trance, Boyle creates another genre defying film, which plays with film noir, psychological thriller and gangster films. In this way he takes iconic imagery and guides the audience in that direction. He bends the rules transforming the story in something completely different from what is expected. “It is all a trick and I got tricked,” added Cassel.
Trance is in select theaters now! Opening nationwide this Friday, April 12.
