Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Ewan McGregor,Robert Carlyle
Trainspotting is a degenerate movie. It’s the kind of movie conservatives tend to blame for the decline of civilization. Aside from being a flashy ad for the glories of heroin, Trainspotting features gratuitous violence, meaningless sex, backstabbing friends, and lots of human excrement. I sometimes wonder whether it is a flaw in my character that I find such corrupting movies so great.
And make no mistake about it: Trainspotting is a spectacular movie. Exciting and propulsive, it’s the kind of movie that turns young people on to either the joys of filmmaking or the joys of sin. Thing is, it’s movies like this—movies that don’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks—that frequently turn out to be the freshest and most original.
Set in Scotland, the movie follows the adventures of a group of friends who are hooked on heroin. At the center of the group is Renton, played by Ewan McGregor. The movie opens with Renton deciding to quit smack. Needless to say, quitting the habit doesn’t turn out to be so easy, particularly saddled with his band of untrustworthy friends.
Trainspotting broke all box office records in the U.K. when it first came out in 1996. When it came stateside, critics were prepared for another Pulp Fiction: here was another profane, funny and original film that seemed made to order for the young and hip. Alas, Trainspotting came and went without so much a whimper. I’m still not sure why it failed, but I have a guess. If the movie has a flaw—if it can even be called a flaw—it is that the Scottish brogue in which everyone speaks is so goddamn thick that you need subtitles. Honestly, I understood about half the movie when I first saw it. That I loved it nonetheless says a lot about the movie’s greatness.
What exactly is it that makes the movie so good? For one, it’s just a really fast-paced movie. There is not one dull moment in it. Scene after scene, particularly in the first hour, is exhilarating and funny. Driven by a great electronica/brit-pop soundtrack, the movie’s practically a cinematic rave. In addition, the script for the movie, what of it you catch anyway, is excellent. Filled with pop culture references to David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Sean Connery, it’s almost like the Scottish version of a Tarantino script.
Let’s put it this way: if you are in any way a sensitive viewer, this movie is not for you. This movie shows the hell that is heroin, and makes an argument against drug use, but it also shows why it is that people do drugs too—it shows the joy, however destructive, that can be found in drugs, which I think may make many people feel uncomfortable. This is a movie that takes risks. It is dark, ironic, and disturbing. I’d like to think of it this way: if rock and roll be the devil’s music, then Trainspotting can certainly make a case for movies being the devil’s art.
