This extended interview with the film director Danny Boyle follows his career over a period of 15 years, film by film, from Shallow Grave to Slumdog Millionaire. It took Amy Raphael, a freelance journalist, 15 minutes to convince Boyle to allow her to document his experiences and seven months to talk with him over 11 sessions, some of them lasting up to four or five hours at a stretch. Boyle is gratifyingly motormouthed: Raphael simply had to throw him a question and sit back while he filled the air with intelligent, witty, coherent comment on his life and work as an A-list wonder boy. What The Paris Review did for great writers — throw questions at them and listen carefully while they explained themselves — Raphael should continue to do for film-makers.
