Alex Moss EditorBritpop, Beanie Babies, Britney Spears, the rise of the Internet and Trainspotting. These were the things that were essential zeitgeist in the 1990s. And the most bizarre thing is that Trainspotting hadn’t necessarily been seen by the youth of the day but they were surrounded by it. Thanks mainly to a brilliantly designed poster that adored most teenage and student bedrooms, Trainspotting became symbolic of the era. An in your face film with a killer soundtrack and a style of filmmaking that set out to go against the grain.
Adapting Irvine Welsh’s novel, Trainspotting follows a group of friends living a drug-fuelled life in Scotland. Renton (Ewan McGregor) has vowed to break his heroin addiction but with friends Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) and Spud (Ewan Bremner) still injecting he’s soon sucked back into their world. Meanwhile, Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is addicted to violence and will stop at nothing to satisfy it.
From the opening chase sequence – set to the infectious Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life – Trainspotting grabs you by the hand and takes you on a break-neck tour of the Scottish underworld of drug-addiction. Danny Boyle’s direction is a force of nature here. His use of montages combined with a thumping soundtrack makes Trainspotting an unforgettable experience. It is so in your face it often feels like a series of music videos stitched seamlessly together to form an immersive experience and narrative. John Hodge’s script manages to perfectly balance jet-black comedy with moments of wince-inducing drama and tragedy.
What still staggers is the way Boyle and Hodges use surrealism to bring to life the idea of a trip and drug-addiction to visceral life. From Renton diving into the world’s worst toilet to him sinking into the floor as he overdoses, it’s these moments that offer a stunning calm amid the otherwise chaos of the film, a smart and often scary insight into the ‘highs’ of addiction. But what is more powerful is the way in which the story naturally unfolds to make it clear Renton’s biggest problem is not his drug-addiction but his dependence on his friends, and the realisation they are the habit he really needs to kick if he’s to ever ‘choose life’.
The group of friends in question all became household names thanks to Trainspotting and the way in which every single one of them is impeccably cast is key in the film’s success. McGregor’s Renton is a perfect avatar for us to embody for the story, he’s analytical of the world around him but embracing of the madness Boyle conjures. Lee Miller has never been better than as Sick Boy, a man full of bravado who occasionally gives us a glimpse into his humanity only to often stamp on it. Bremner is bordering on a UK sitcom character but in a way that keeps things light when necessary. But it’s Carlyle as Begbie who lasts long in the memory, a raging ball of anger often shot in low-angle by Boyle as he conjures a larger than life force of furiosity. Special mention should also go to Kelly Macdonald who manages to steel every scene she’s in by bringing a dry wit to her performance.
This 4K release from Spirit Entertainment does a perfect job of ensuring the film looks the best it ever has. With a transfer overseen by Boyle himself, the film retains a lovely level of film grain that feels essential to the grey world in which the characters reside.
One of British cinema’s most iconic films, Trainspotting is as energetic, pulse-quickening and memorable today as it was then, choose life, choose to revisit this brilliant film.
