"With God's help I will conquer this terrible affliction."
Ewan McGregor’s fame-grabbing role as Mark Renton takes us head-deep into the world of drugs and especially that of heroin - “the big one”, where countless hits and cravings drag the audience into a suspense of almost sympathy for the human body’s dependence. Danny Boyle’s directions and favourable choice of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed soundtrack undeniably adds a twist of clever desperation and heavy beat to the film itself. The cast providing consistent Class-A performances only raised the bar of film standards higher as on its release the film may have been criticised for “glamorising drugs”, but is arguably, and perhaps, the best British film of the 90’s in its own respect.
“Now why would I want to do a thing like that?”
Set in the backdrop of 80’s clash Edinburgh, Trainspotting is a tale of five anti-heroes who take addiction to one more level of raw anticipation. Drawing the world through in an eye, the viewer can see the true selves of drugs and that of drug-users, following the daily grind and suffering of Edinburgh’s junkies, these friends visit “Mother Superior” for a lunch of heroin whenever they can afford it. Stealing, scamming, and cheating, the group of friends make through for a trip to euphoric-kingdom as each member reveals their intentions of only living for heroin.
“Just one more hit.”
The plot in itself may only bare a few bones as it is not the most original and thought-provoking story base, but Boyle manages with little effort to give the whole film a U-turn into becoming an epic of ordinary human life. Poor, and buggered as the
characters may appear, their appearances are foiled by the cast’s brilliant acting as they’re brought to life vividly in awkward scenarios forcing emotions into trial. The sequence of events bring the main protagonists into a road-trip through hell and hardship, as they live everyday in accordance to heroin, Renton (McGregor) being the semi-narrator, tells the story of a group of friends who struggle with a Class-A substance and attempt to make some decent cash. Central character Renton, tries to come clean and takes a stab at his life for once with the aid of his drug-abhorring parents and a hospital trip. The first attempt doesn’t turn out to be so successful with his solitary confinement; ranging with tomato soup, a TV, some pornography and a healthy dose of two constipation tablets stuck up his arse. As Connery-obsessed Sickboy (Miller) times his drug-suspension the same with Renton, he does it to “piss off” Renton, showing how easy it is for him to come off heroin. Changing the scenery and moving to London proves to be a difficult endurance with the constant magnets of Scotland and its mind-bearing enemies. In the end through a one-chance opportunity to exchange a package of heroin for sixteen grand, we could say that Renton was the one who ended up, the hero.
“Choose a life. Choose a job. Choose a family.”
Sometimes the extremes swing the pendulum off the scales, turning your stomach inside-out; scenes such as the death of a bloat-face dead blue baby, Alison “may have been screaming for days” but at least we knew who the father was now. “I’m cooking up” - Renton’s unemotional response shows perhaps his side of shock and evil together, but it seems again like heroin has saved yet another day for the motley crew. Other characters who beg to differ from the rest, the screwed-up Spud (Bremner) failing his leisure interview and his reward in the end scream a profoundly dumb, but kind soul - “In a word. I take pleasure, in other people’s leisure.” Showing off to be more useful as a rap star, Spud is the kind of person who just wanted to feel “true love” with his girlfriend, who is proving to be a challenge in the sex department, his balls were like “watermelons”. Contrasting against Spud is the drunkenly angst-ridden Begbie (Carlyle) who as we say, provided an astounding organic act for us to see, “No way would I poison my body with that shite”, Begbie didn’t do drugs, he did people. Hollowing back to the picture where Begbie drinks a pint of lager and chuckles the glass over his head, only for it to target straight into a woman’s bloody face, Begbie runs downstairs to “do the c*nt” who caused the commotion before anyone leaves.
“A little dab of heroin is just the ticket man.”
The imaginative role of Renton climbing into “the worst toilet in Scotland” rains down a peaceful bombardment as he delves literally head-first inside, past all the crap and diarrhoea, until he retrieves his two heavenly arse-pills while swimming past a mine. This perhaps was my favourite scene in the whole film, it in a close way, was the only moment where reality and fantasy were heavily separated and a blend of happiness was swiped across McGregor’s face - until he wakes up and walks out the pub soaked in someone else’s business of undigested nutrition. A similar point in the motion was when Renton begins hallucinating nightmarish figures, Alison’s ghoulish baby crawling across the ceiling defying gravity, and Tommy (McKidd) who reached death through his sexual corruption and eventual turn to drugs which resulted in his girlfriend leaving him - depressed as he was, he dies from the excrement of the kitten he bought to win back his ex only to lie in his vomit with a head abscess. Renton’s bedroom of train-wallpapered décor is a clever signifier of his dreams and aspirations, in the foreground, the haunting spectres of the people in his life suffer in his mind as he tries to grasp the inner-intentions of the subconscious.
“A little bit bad- but hey, don’t us girls just love that.”
After one viewing, the audience may be in need of rejuvenation as the likes of manic facial expressions and muscles contract and scare, you’ll need more than a cushion to stomach Trainspotting. Spiking in doses of underage sex involving Renton and his love-at-first-sight teenage school girl (played by Kelly MacDonald) - rehab seems a mile away as you drive deeper into drug culture and the string tied. This film has high regards compared to the other copycats later on who don’t manage to master the techniques envisaged in Trainspotting, placing the winning spot for the recognition it doesn’t so regularly receives.
“The Truth is I’m a bad person.”
Simple and anarchic, the warning signs of the film are frozen loud and subtle with many a times the disasters and deaths produced by heroin. Trainspotting provides a platform for junkies to watch, learn and practice their lives, hopefully to a better path, but as a whole is a rapid and strong message to addiction. The bleak and pitiful depiction of life running up towards a group of smack heads proves to be more than just a contemporary classic, with its tragically, and stunning art forms of cinematography, performances combined with soundtrack, in a large mish-mash of media-frenzy, is a religious celebration of realism.
An excellent adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel- viewing is highly recommended.
Pictures of Trainspotting (DVD)
Renton in self-rehab
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
Superb review! More than enough to whet the appetite of anyone old enough to rent the thing. Love your turn of phrase ('heroin lunch'!). Great.
woolystone 12.09.2004 22:41
Great review, well written. You have brought across the contrast between the humour and disgust at the swimming in the toilet to the dispair and disgust at the dead baby very well. Well done!
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...
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![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 11th, 2004
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