Trainspotting Review

Trainspotting- Rated 18

Sometimes you don't know how much you needed to see a film until you've seen it. Trainspotting is one of those films.

I had heard of this film a while beforehand, mostly because of the 2016 film T2 Trainspotting which brought the 1996 classic back into the public eye but apart from the fact that Ewan McGregor is in the film I didn't really know anything about it. Just that it was good. And part of me is kind of glad that I went into it knowing very little. That's one of the great advantages these kind of films have over the Hollywood mainstream, unless you go looking for spoilers you won't stumble across any and that shock factor works to the films advantage. Had I known what the film was about I probably wouldn't have watched it.

The film documents the lives of a group of heroin addicts. The main character Renton (McGregor), decides that it's time to change and tries to go clean despite the influence of his friends and the relentlessness of his surroundings. What follows is a mad whirl of interlocking events as Renton wrestles with his own addiction and the effect it has on those around him.

And "mad" is putting it lightly...

The cinematography of Brian Tufano (Billy Elliot, Shallow Grave) and direction of Danny Boyle does an amazing job of pulling you into the minds of these characters. Two scenes which stand out specifically in my mind are the "Worst toilet in Scotland" scene, which is easily up there with my favourite movie scenes ever and the "nightclub" scene.

During the toilet scene, Renton is trying to go clean for the first time. Deciding that he needs one more hit to get him through the night he buys opium rectal suppositories. Since one of heroin's side effects is constipation, after a short while without the drug he gets a serious case of the runs and on his desperate search for a toilet ends up in the most disgusting set of bogs imaginable. Despite the gross situation this scene manages to be really funny, especially when Renton slides fully down the toilet in search of his suppositories. Apparently this was achieved by creating half a toilet with a shoot to give the illusion Renton was falling down the toilet. Half way through he turned around to give the impression he was going through the toilet pipes. Not only does this scene show us the icky and obsessive nature of Renton's addiction but also how the character views his daily life and the fantasies he imagines to shield himself from the grim reality. Definitely a scene that will be stuck in my head for a while!

The second scene that stood out to me on a filmmaking level was the nightclub scene where we first meet Kelly McDonald's character, Diane. On a performance level this is one of my favourite sequences in the entire film. Deciding that he's missing something from his life Renton goes to a nightclub in the hopes of picking up a girl. He doesn't seem to have any luck until he spots Diane and decides to pursue her, not realising that she is still a high school student.

The cinematography in this scene is exceptional. The crazy, claustrophobic, hormone filled atmosphere of the club is perfectly presented through shaky camera angles, blurred transitions, quick cuts and seizure inducing lighting, not to mention the music which has become just as iconic as the film itself. Outside the nightclub the colours are even more intense, most notably the crimson exterior of the club and Diane's red jacket, making her a literal red flag.

On one final note I feel like I need to talk about the dialogue in this film. It might sound weird that a film about the Edinburgh drugs scene has some of the best dialogue I have seen in a film for a long time... but it's true.

These characters are extremely well written. The dynamic between Renton and his friends is realistic showing their turbulent relations with each other without making them unlikable or making them subjects of ridicule. All of the characters seem real (Painfully so in some scenes) making it hard not to empathise with them and the situations they have dug themselves into. Renton's voice narrating his experiences makes the film all the more engaging.

I realise that this film is a hard sell. It has elements that are very hard to watch. I personally give this film a 9/10 but when it comes to this kind of subject matter opinions don't count for much because they are so varied. So I'm going to leave this review with Renton's opening monologue. If this doesn't convince you to watch the film, then it probably isn't the film for you.

"Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"