Trainspotting

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

It’s been over a decade since “Trainspotting” was first released on film, but Jo and I only got around to watching it yesterday even as she prepares to fly off to study in Wales. We figured you had to be in the right mindset to catch this film; that is expecting to see lots of drugs and syringes, hear lots of hard to understand Scottish accents, and just preparing to see what all the hype regarding the film was about. Sure enough, we got all of that and more.

Mark “Rent Boy” Renton (Ewan McGregor) is one of a group of friends in Edinburgh, the majority of which just so happen to be heroin addicts. Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) are just as hooked as Renton is, while Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) aren’t addicts yet have their own quirks as well. Most of them enjoy living in a perpetual heroin-induced fog, aware that the drugs give them a greater sense of happiness than what the real world usually does. Despite Sick Boy and his girlfriend losing a baby due to neglect caused by being high, they still continue with the habit. Even as Renton and Spud attempt to get clean, something always seem to happen that brings them right back in.

Director Danny Boyle weaves a manic story of fast dialogue that will oftentimes have you trying to read the subtitles, yet also cringing at the various ways that Renton and his “mates” sink deep into heroin in the mid-1990s. The reality of their pathetic addiction contrasts with the dreamy nature of the scenes when Renton or the others are high and existing in a virtual dream. It had been argued when “Trainspotting” was first released that it glorified drug use, however Jo and I found the contrary to be true. As someone who can’t stand seeing needles, I had to turn away from the tube a number of times as McGregor and the other actors were in various states of preparing to ingest the drug.

I also found out that the term “trainspotting” is British slang for trying to find a vein to intravenously inject drugs. Eww. Anyway, this is the film that first got Ewan McGregor the acclaim that he has since mined into a very successful film career. It is easy now, in hindsight, to see how good Ewan was even then. The rest of the cast don’t disappoint either. Perhaps setting the tone for being a villain in most of his recent movies, Carlyle’s Begbie is psychotic, in-your-face, and as paranoid as can be. Jonny Lee Miller’s Sick Boy channels Sean Connery in some scenes while playing tortured drug addict/negligent father in others. Ewen Bremner’s Spud comes across as the weakest of their group, even defecating in his girlfriend’s bed and resulting in one of the grossest scenes I’ve ever seen on film.

However, a personal delight for me was seeing Kevin McKidd’s role as Tommy. As a fan of the HBO series “Rome” I only saw McKidd as the powerful former centurion Lucius Vorenus, someone who is loyal to a fault, to the point of alienating his family. Seeing the actor ten years before he took this role is something indeed as one notices the changes in him. Apparently, he once had long curly blond hair, and was always pretty physically fit. As Tommy goes from drug-free to addict and loses all sense of self-worth, almost mirrors Vorenus’ descent after Niobe’s death in “Rome”. It’s nice to see that even though McGregor was the clear breakout star of this particular film, a lot of the other actors have made names for themselves in recent years too.

I must admit that there were indeed times when Jo and I were cringing from either fear of needles (me), or gross scenes (the “worst toilet in Scotland” scene). Still, I’m happy to say that I finally see what all the hype was about regarding “Trainspotting”. Together with “Snatch”, “The History Boys”, and “Hot Fuzz”, there seems to be a pattern of British filmmakers who come up with slightly off-tangent movies with well-developed characters, rapid-fire dialogue, and lots of innovative jumpcuts and editing. To say that “Trainspotting” was the first in this group to have those elements would be a great compliment, and the only other compliment I can add for now is that is stands up remarkably well for a film shot over 11 years ago.