Year of Release : 1996

Cast : Ewan McGregor, Jhonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle

Story : Irvine Welsh (based on his book – Trainspotting)

Music : Soundtracks by Iggy Pop, Primal Scream and several others

Director : Danny Boyle

Trainspotting, an onscreen adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel of the same name, is one of the cult classics from the 90s which captured an entire generation of movie buff’s imagination. Directed by Danny Boyle, the film chronicles the lives of a group of friends as they grapple with heroin addiction, urban poverty and lack of purpose in life.

The film is set in Edinburgh at a time when the economic depression was still prevelant leaving thousands of people without any jobs. Ewan McGregor stars as Mark Renton whose heroin addiction is the central theme of the film. The entire story is narrated from his perspective as he grapples with his addiction, guilt and resolve to break free from his life in Edinburgh. Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle) form the rest of the gang. Although Tommy and Begbie stay away from heroin, which they refer to as “shite”, they have their own share of problems. Tommy’s girlfriend (Lizzy) ditches him when he loses a video, featuring intimate scenes between him and Lizzy, by mistake. On the other hand, Begbie is impulsive and a psychopath whose mood swings always tilt towards violent side. One day Renton meets Diane at a club, who later advises him to get away from Edinburgh and start a new life. Later, Renton heads to London and finds himself a job. But his friends trace him down and convince him to join them for one last drug deal which would make them rich overnight.

Trainspotting’s biggest strength lies in its dazzling energy and at no point of time it goes into a grim mode despite the sequence of events which suggest so. Renton and his friends believe that nothing else matters in life if you are addicted to heroin. One of the most famous dialogues in the film sums up their love for heroin – “Take the best orgasm you ever had, mutiply it by 1000 times and still you are nowhere close to one hit of heroin!” While Renton’s parents, Tommy and Begbie try their best to drive sense into Renton to leave heroin for good, he wouldn’t budge. His reason being when you are on heroin, mundane things from your day to day lives, cease to exist. But things take a serious turn when this addiction lands him in hospital, Spud ends up in jail, Sick Boy’s child dies all of a sudden and even Tommy becomes a victim of AIDS. As Renton fights with the demons in his head and the overwhelming sense of guilt, for the first time in his life he sees light at the end of the tunnel and realizes that afterall, the mundane things in life aren’t as bad as he thought they were.

The locales chosen to shoot the film also give add life to this film. Despite Edinburgh being a beautiful city, Danny Boyle chooses to narrate his story in places filled with scum, trash and chaos. The apartment where Renton and his friends get the ‘hit’ from time to time is perhaps the worst of them all. It reflects their own lack of orderliness and neglect. Another interesting aspect is that most of the film is shot indoors which leaves us claustrophic at some level. No wonder, when Renton chooses a new life in London, an analogy that he has broken away from his claustrophobic life in Edinburgh wouldn’t be wrong at all. Brian Tufano’s cinematography makes all this seem piece of cake and it’s one of the several things in the film which stands out. Interestingly, the film has a series of soundtracks by Iggy Pop, Primal Scream, New Order, Lou Reed among many other artists. The soundtracks are used throughout the film to reflect the mood. Masahiro Hirakubo, who edited the film, makes sure that the entire film is seemless and distinct at the same time.

Trainspotting was Danny Boyle’s second film and it was perhaps his biggest breakthrough in the early years of his career. The film which was made with a budget of close to $3 million went on to gross close to $72 million internationally. It has also been ranked among the best British films of all time, a credit which it truly deserves. The social commentary on an entire generation of frustrated youths who can’t bear the thought they are being ruled over by Brits is another theme which passes as an undercurrent in this multi-layered film. Danny paints his characters with so much joy and life that they don’t repent for what they have done. Even during Renton’s bouts of guilt, at no point, he repents for being a heroin addict. The climax of the film is a stroke of genius and both Irvine Welsh and Danny Boyle deserve all the accolades for this remarkable film.

The film comes a full circle where Renton changes himself for good and decides that he would be one of us – 9-5 job, Television, Football, Taxes, Dental Insurance…and so on. In short, he chooses life, a far cry from his initial declaration that he would choose heroin over life. While it’s still a matter of debate if Renton is insulting us that our lives are hopeless and boring, he says it so convincingly that it wouldn’t be surprising if he finds a new addiction – Life. Afterall, there must be something which must keep us going. Choose Life. And don’t forget to choose this film, highly recommended!

By

Hemanth

(This article was written for ‘Bhel Puri’ magazine (a youth mag in Hyderabad, India). Haven’t read the mag in ages and I have no idea if it’s been published!..:-) )

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