"I've learned how much I owe to the sensibility of Punk." Danny Boyle

Danny Boyle has been one of the most distinctive voices in British filmmaking over the past three decades, from revitalizing '90s culture with Trainspotting to Oscar and Olympics glory. For his latest project - Sex Pistols miniseries Pistol - he's returning to TV to tell a story about a pivotal moment in British musical and social history. "I really love our culture, for all its faults," he says, "and I love to use it."

- By Matt Maytum. Portraits Pablo Cuadra

When Total Film catches up with Danny Boyle via Zoom one Monday in April, he's at home in Mile End having just completed his work on miniseries Pistol, which charts the incendiary rise of the Sex Pistols in the '70s. You're never quite finished, he says at the top of our conversation. But we finished, officially, on Friday afternoon. Directing all six episodes was no small task. It's like mixing three films, one after another after another. I mean, my ears are still ringing. I'm a bit numb, really.

It's not surprising that it's still reverberating around his head. Entering the band through the viewpoint of guitarist Steve Jones, Pistol also encompasses the broader punk scene, featuring icons like Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood alongside band members Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. (Model and actor Pamela 'Jordan' Rooke, portrayed by Maisie Williams in the show, died the night before our interview. She was an amazing woman, Boyle reflects.)

The filmmaking of the show reflects the anarchic spirit the band championed. You want it to be bred with chaos in its DNA, Boyle explains. And I hope we achieved that. Punk also seems to be infused in Boyle's DNA. While he confesses to being more of a fan of the Clash, he calls the Pistols the detonation device point... the Year Zero of everything beginning again. He felt the impact of that atomic force on his own life. Everybody moans about things [in] the '80s, whatever. But it's never been anything like the '70s again, believe me. Fucking hell. It was a terrible time! It was so boring.