Shallow Grave (1994 film)#Music

Chartered accountant David Stevens shares a flat in Edinburgh with physician Juliet Miller and journalist Alex Law. Needing a new flatmate, the trio interview several applicants in a calculatedly cruel manner, amusing themselves at the applicants' expense before finally offering the room to a mysterious man named Hugo. Shortly after he moves in, the trio finds Hugo dead from an apparent drug overdose in his room, as well as a large suitcase full of money. The friends agree to conceal the death and keep the money for themselves. They decide to remove the identifying features—hands, feet and teeth—from Hugo's body and bury the remains in the woods. David is given the gruesome task of dismembering the corpse after they draw lots, while Juliet disposes of the leftovers in her hospital's incinerator.

Unknown to them, Hugo is being sought by a pair of violent criminals who are torturing and murdering informants as they follow Hugo's trail. The flat below theirs is broken into, making them anxious. While Juliet and Alex go on a shopping spree with the money to "feel better," David's fears turn into full-blown paranoia. He hides the suitcase of money in the attic and begins living there, drilling holes in the attic floor to watch the living space below. The relationship between the three begins to deteriorate.

The criminals break into the flat, beating Alex and Juliet until Alex reveals where the money is. As the men enter the dark attic, David kills both of them with a hammer and returns to the woods to dispose of the bodies. Alex and Juliet become worried about David's mental state, and David becomes worried that the two are conspiring against him. The police, investigating the prior intrusion, are surprised when the three friends deny that they ever had a fourth flatmate.

The bodies are discovered in the woods, and Alex is sent by his editor to cover the story. With the police now closing in, Juliet seduces David into giving her the money so she can buy plane tickets to Rio de Janeiro and they can run away together, but secretly she plans to go alone and leave the other two to take the fall. Alex returns from work and—realising that Juliet and David are working together and that his life is in danger—tries to phone the police. Their confrontation escalates to violence. David reveals that he knew about Juliet's secret plan to betray both him and Alex, and punches her, prompting Alex to attack him too. Alex collapses after being stabbed in the shoulder by David, but Juliet kills David before he can finish the job.

With David dead, Juliet decides to force the knife deeper into Alex's shoulder, pinning him to the floor, so that the police will find him with David's body and blame him for all four of the deaths. She flees with the suitcase to the airport—but in the car park she breaks down hysterically when she discovers that it is actually filled with hundreds of newspaper clippings about the triple shallow grave, taken from Alex's newspaper. With no possessions other than the plane ticket, and no other way out, she frantically boards the plane to Rio.

The police arrive at the flat to find Alex alive and grinning—he had hidden the cash under the same floorboards where Juliet had skewered him. David finishes the monologue that began the film, the entirety of which is now revealed to be a flashback. A sheet is drawn over his face and his body is slid into a drawer in the morgue.

• Kerry Fox as Juliet Miller: A spirited and mysterious doctor who is constantly being courted by different men, many of whom repeatedly call the flat trying to speak to her. Despite this, she also appears to be in a relationship with David as well as openly flirting with Alex.
• Christopher Eccleston as David Stevens: A shy chartered accountant who keeps a low profile. After drawing the short straw and having to cut up the body, he becomes introverted and paranoid.
• Ewan McGregor as Alex Law: A cheeky, vain, and self-described "hack" journalist. Alex works for the local paper and is able to find out inside information of the police investigation. His confidence in their plot starts to be undermined by David's deteriorating mental health.
• Ken Stott as Detective Inspector McCall
• Keith Allen as Hugo: An enigmatic man who rents the spare room under the pretence of being a writer. He is later found dead after a drug overdose, leaving a suitcase full of money under his bed.
• Colin McCredie as Cameron: A potential flatmate who is interviewed at the beginning of the film. He is ridiculed and then thrown out by Alex and the housemates. Later, at a party, he punches Alex after being mocked again.
• Victoria Nairn as Woman Visitor: The "identify this song" potential flatmate.
• Gary Lewis as Male Visitor: The "not having an affair" potential flatmate.
• Jean Marie Coffey as Goth: A potential flatmate.
• Peter Mullan as Andy: A murderous thug searching for Hugo and the money.
• Leonard O'Malley as Tim: A murderous thug searching for Hugo and the money.

In addition, the film's screenwriter, John Hodge, appears in the role of Detective Constable Mitchell, whose main duty appears to be writing: "Make a note of that, Mitchell. ... Write it down."

Shooting for Shallow Grave lasted for thirty days. The tight budgetary restraints during filming meant many of the props had to be auctioned off for them to afford sufficient film stock.{{cite web |first=Cristina |last=A. Gonzalez |date=9 April 2013 |title=Danny Boyle Reflects on Shooting Amidst Real Dead Bodies on Shallow Grave and Talks Budgeting at Academy Event |url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/danny-boyle-on-selling-off-the-set-to-finance-shallow-grave-working-with-2-masters-of-the-universe |work=indieWire |access-date=20 April 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222824/http://www.indiewire.com/article/danny-boyle-on-selling-off-the-set-to-finance-shallow-grave-working-with-2-masters-of-the-universe |url-status=live }}

Boyle claimed that Christopher Eccleston was so afraid of getting locked in a real-life mortuary for a scene, he had to ask a crew member to stand in the shadows and comfort the nervous actor.

Danny Boyle said in his commentary on the 2009 Special Edition DVD and 2012 Blu-ray that Alex is not meant to be dead, so the line of Alex saying hello to the detective was added in post-production to clarify this.{{cite news |last1=Hunter |first1=Rob |title=24 Things We Learned from Danny Boyle's 'Shallow Grave' Commentary |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/24-things-we-learned-from-danny-boyles-shallow-grave-commentary/ |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=Film School Rejects |date=May 3, 2018}}

The crew shot predominantly in Glasgow rather than Edinburgh, which is where the story is set, since the Glasgow Film Fund gave them a £150,000 (£{{Inflation|UK|150000|1995|r=-2|fmt=c}} today) grant.{{cite news |last1=Ipsen |first1=Erik |title=Glasgow Notebook : Funds in Shallow Grave |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/13/business/worldbusiness/IHT-glasgow-notebook-funds-in-shallow-grave.html |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=March 13, 1995}}{{cite news |title=Good decision to dig deep for Shallow Grave |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12692609.good-decision-to-dig-deep-for-shallow-grave/ |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=The Herald |date=18 August 1994}} Locations in the film include Flat 6 North East Circus Place in New Town, Edinburgh. Hospital scenes were filmed at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire.{{cite web |title=Shallow Grave |url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/shallow-grave/ |website=RealStreets.com |access-date=20 May 2023}} The dance scene was filmed at the Townhouse Hotel, 54 West George Street, near George Square in Glasgow.

Shallow Grave earned Boyle the Best Newcomer Award from the 1996 London Film Critics Circle{{sfn|Mayer|McDonnell|2007|pp=377–380}} and, together with Trainspotting, led to critical commentary that Boyle had revitalised British cinema in the early 1990s.{{cite news |title=From Fleapit to the red carpet |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4789045/From-fleapit-to-the-red-carpet.html |author=Grice, Elizabeth |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=24 February 2009 |access-date=11 March 2009 |location=London |archive-date=27 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227162222/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4789045/From-fleapit-to-the-red-carpet.html |url-status=live }}

The film was the most commercially successful British film of 1995 with a gross of £5.2 million.{{sfn|Mayer|McDonnell|2007|pp=377–380}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Screen International|date=29 March 1996|page=35|title=Storybook Weekend}} The film was a success in Europe but grossed a total of just $2,834,250 in the United States.{{cite news |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1995/0SGRV.php |title=Shallow Grave (1994) |website=The Numbers |access-date=29 December 2009 |archive-date=8 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108184707/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1995/0SGRV.php |url-status=live }} It led to Boyle's internationally successful production, Trainspotting, two years later.{{cite journal |title=BFI Top 100 British films |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/bfi100/1-10.html |publisher=British Film Institute |date=6 September 2006 |access-date=23 February 2009 |journal=BFI |archive-date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514093408/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/bfi100/1-10.html |url-status=dead }}

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|72|6.6|54|This black-humored thriller features characters who are more obnoxious than clever. During the second half, the movie descends into gratuitous violence.|access-date=23 April 2022}}{{cite web|title=Shallow Grave|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1058923-shallow_grave|url-status=live|access-date=9 May 2024|website=Rotten Tomatoes|archive-date=15 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015013259/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1058923-shallow_grave}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 21 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{Cite web |title=Shallow Grave |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/shallow-grave |url-status=live |access-date=15 November 2021 |website=Metacritic |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115035822/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/shallow-grave }}

Caroline Westbrook of Empire magazine gave it 5 out of 5 and wrote: "This, the debut feature from acclaimed TV director Danny Boyle, is the best British thriller for years, a chilling and claustrophobic heart-stopper centring on a moral dilemma destined to fuel many a dinner party conversation."{{cite web |date=1995 |first=Caroline |last=Westbrook |title=Shallow Grave |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/shallow-grave-review/ |website=Empire }} Quentin Curtis of The Independent wrote: "What makes the film fascinating, and exciting, is its marriage of British setting and American, B-movie format."{{cite news |date=8 January 1995 |first=Quentin |last=Curtis |title=CINEMA : British noir, American-style |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/cinema-british-noir-americanstyle-1567106.html |newspaper=The Independent on Sunday }}

Derek Elley of Variety magazine called it "a tar-black comedy that zings along on a wave of visual and scripting inventiveness."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 2 out of 4, and wrote "All of the materials are in place [...] But somehow they never come together."{{cite web |date=February 24, 1995 |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |author1-link=Roger Ebert |title=Shallow Grave |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/shallow-grave-1995 |website=Chicago Sun-Times}}{{cite news |date=February 24, 1995 |first=Hal |last=Hinson |author1-link=Hal Hinson |title=Shallow Grave |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/shallowgraverhinson_c00a8d.htm |newspaper=Washington Post }}{{cite news |date=February 24, 1995 |first= Desson |last=Howe |author1-link= Desson Howe |title=Shallow Grave |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/shallowgraverhowe_c00a8e.htm |newspaper=Washington Post }} Janet Maslin of The New York Times was critical of the film and said "misanthropy overwhelms his film in ways that prove more sour than droll, despite the presence of skillful actors and a bizarrely enveloping plot."{{cite news |date=10 February 1995 |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |title=FILM REVIEW; Fear and Loathing In Upscale Glasgow |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/10/movies/film-review-fear-and-loathing-in-upscale-glasgow.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526142539/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/10/movies/film-review-fear-and-loathing-in-upscale-glasgow.html |archive-date=2015-05-26 }}

• 1995 Angers European First Film Festival
• Audience Award – Feature Film
• Best Screenplay – Feature Film
• Liberation Advertisement Award
• 1995 BAFTA – Alexander Korda Award for Best British film (shared with Andrew Macdonald){{sfn|Mayer|McDonnell|2007|pp=377–380}}
• 1995 Cognac Festival du Film Policier
• Audience Award
• Grand Prix
• 1994 Dinard British Film Festival
• Golden Hitchcock
• 1st Empire Awards (1996){{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/awards2003/pastwinners/1996.asp |title=Empire Awards Past Winners – 1996 |work=Empire |year=2003 |access-date=16 September 2011 |archive-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014113022/http://www.empireonline.com/awards2003/pastwinners/1996.asp |url-status=dead }}
• Empire Award for Best British Film
• Empire Award for Best Director
• Empire Award for Best British Actor
• 1995 Evening Standard British Film Award
• Most Promising Newcomer for Danny Boyle
• 1995 Fantasporto (Portugal)
• International Fantasy Film Award – Best Film
• 1994 San Sebastian International Film Festival
• Silver Seashell – Best Director

{{Infobox album

| name = Shallow Grave

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Simon Boswell

| cover =

| caption =

| alt =

| released = 1995

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Electronic, jazz, rock

| length =

| label = EMI Records

| producer = Simon Boswell

| chronology = Danny Boyle film soundtrack

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Trainspotting

| next_year = 1996

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/shallow-grave-mw0000613401 |title=Shallow Grave Original Soundtrack |first=Jason |last=Ankeny |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=May 20, 2023}}

| rev2 = Select

| rev2score = {{rating|3|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{cite magazine|author=CC|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/01/albums3.jpg|title=New Albums: Soundbites|work=Select|date=April 1995|page=|access-date=December 9, 2024}}

}}

Track listing

1. Leftfield – "Shallow Grave" – 4:38
2. Simon Boswell – "Shallow Grave Theme" – 3:30
3. Nina Simone – "My Baby Just Cares for Me" – 3:38
4. Simon Boswell – "Laugh Riot" – 3:02
5. Leftfield – "Release the Dubs" – 5:45
6. John Carmichael Band – "Strip the Willow" – 3:12
7. Simon Boswell – "Loft Conversion" – 5:45
8. Simon Boswell – "A Spade, We Need a Spade" – 2:41
9. Simon Boswell – "Shallow Grave, Deep Depression" – 4:49
10. Simon Boswell – "Hugo's Last Trip" – 5:39
11. Andy Williams – "Happy Heart" – 3:11

{{clear}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Geoff |last2=McDonnell |first2=Brian |title=Encyclopedia of Film Noir |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |location=Westport, CT |isbn=978-0313038662 |pages=377–380 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsBHnZoyO4kC |access-date=20 May 2023}}

{{Wikiquote|Shallow Grave}}

• {{IMDb title|0111149}}
• [http://www.cultfiction.com.au/shallow-grave Shallow Grave review] at Cult Fiction
• [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2338-shallow-grave-a-film-called-cruel Shallow Grave: A Film Called Cruel] an essay by Philip Kemp at the Criterion Collection

{{Danny Boyle}}

{{BAFTA Best British Film}}

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Category:1994 crime thriller films

Category:1994 black comedy films

Category:1994 directorial debut films

Category:1994 films

Category:Best British Film BAFTA Award winners

Category:British black comedy films

Category:British crime thriller films

Category:British independent films

Category:1990s English-language films

Category:Films directed by Danny Boyle

Category:Films produced by Andrew Macdonald

Category:Films scored by Simon Boswell

Category:Films set in Edinburgh

Category:Films shot in Edinburgh

Category:Films shot in Scotland

Category:Films with screenplays by John Hodge

Category:Film4 Productions films

Category:PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films

Category:Scottish comedy films

Category:Trainspotting

Category:1990s British films

Category:British crime comedy films

Category:English-language black comedy films

Category:English-language crime thriller films