Thirty something who likes to dabble.
.... and way to ugly to post a pic!
Check out my serie...
Thirty something who likes to dabble.
.... and way to ugly to post a pic!
Check out my series of opinions entitled "The Concise Opinion"
Member since:11.03.2001
Reviews:42
Members who trust:6
Somewhere out there a small group of British directors gather in a smoky bar. The cards are turned, heads bow while one pair of hands gather the chips for themselves. However the stake in this game is not money. Nor is it property. It’s for the right to direct the next great British movie. The game is only played once every five years. This game was won by Danny Boyle.
The last winner of this game won the plum movie, Four Weddings. They single-handedly forced Hugh Grant into our living rooms, and we are still waiting for him to leave. Danny Boyle unearthed the brilliant Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle. (McGregor later to be cast as the young Ben in the retrospective Star Wars movie while Carlyle is otherwise known for his lead in The Full Monty).
It would be somewhat easy to put a Trainspotting virgin off of this film. For a start, the title is incidental to the story and not directly relevant. This film is not about trains. The film is centred on the very real drug culture in Scotland, but isn’t stereotypically Scottish. Nor does it condone nor condemn drug taking. Heroine exists in this film, like it exists in real life. We may not like it, but it’s there. The film is clearly a drama, and in places is really dramatic, but is surrounded by a real humour that could only exist within such deprived characters.
No, don’t be put off from watching this film. As a ‘sathern safty’ this film was chilling in the way it infotained me, not letting me leave the safety and comfort of my cushioned armchair. Of course I knew about drugs, I knew about cold turkey, but I have never experienced it, and nor do I ever wish too (first or second hand). Trainspotting takes you into these peoples lives and lets you experience both the joy of the rush, and the pain of when everything crashes around them.
Tucked away inside Trainspotting are moments of laughter, of sorrow, of surprise and of shame. And these are the emotions you will feel. There is one very moving moment when even the hardest nut will crack.
Naturally, if this were just a story about urban drug taking then there would be nothing but the cycle of hit, rush and hit again. Trainspotting has a strong story, centred around Mark Renton (McGregor), and his attempt to break his junkie habit with a clean break away from the Scottish capital. However his problems soon catch up with him. Finally an unexpected chance falls in his lap, but can he take full advantage of the opportunity?
Why should you watch this movie? Yes, the story is fiction, but the scenario is very real. You won’t start the film expecting to be educated, but by the end you will have had a very real lesson in life and how other less fortunates cope in their own environment. And what’s more important you will have enjoyed the experience.
There is excessive obscene language in this film, one ‘multiplay’ sex scene, several very funny moments (look out for the ‘worst toilet in the world’ and that sheet over the breakfast table scene) and some distressing moments involving infants. If you are easily offended do not watch this film. But then Trainspotting does not go out to offend; it is just a representation of life, and a clever one at that.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Michael Winterbottom - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
The film that effectively launched the star careers of Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and ... more
Jonny Lee Miller is a hard, barbed picaresque, culled from the bestseller by Irvine Welsh and thrown down against the heroin hinterlands of Edinburgh. Directed wit...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The film that effectively launched the star careers of Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and ... more
Jonny Lee Miller is a hard, barbed picaresque, culled from the bestseller by Irvine Welsh and thrown down against the heroin hinterlands of Edinburgh. Directed wit...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The film that effectively launched the star careers of Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and ... more
Jonny Lee Miller is a hard, barbed picaresque, culled from the bestseller by Irvine Welsh and thrown down against the heroin hinterlands of Edinburgh. Directed wit...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The film that effectively launched the star careers of Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor and ... more
Jonny Lee Miller is a hard, barbed picaresque, culled from the bestseller by Irvine Welsh and thrown down against the heroin hinterlands of Edinburgh. Directed wit...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family... This is the story of Mark ... more
Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his so-called friends - a bunch of losers liars psychos thieves and junkies. Hilarious but harrowing the film charts the disintegra...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Sublime and raw, a potently must-see eye-opener for the public. Disadvantages: Blotches of the disgusting capability of human anatomy - lots of faeces and the likes.
ikeaholic 11.07.2004 (11.07.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Trainspotting (DVD)
![Trainspotting [DVD] [1996]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78551594.jpg "Trainspotting [DVD] [1996]")
![Trainspotting [DVD] [1995]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/75200850.jpg "Trainspotting [DVD] [1995]")
![Trainspotting [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/116083763.jpg "Trainspotting [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
Jul 6th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
