Trainspotting (1996) Dir. Danny Boyle FIRST RESPONSE

Rating: 7/10

Trainspotting is a grungy movie filled with dark themes, flawed characters and a really good soundtrack. The acting is extremely good, and most of the main characters are very memorable, from the well-meaning Renton to the unfortunate Spud, and the psychotic and hateable Begbie, among other characters who go through a lot of horrible experiences. It creates a grim reality around the characters filled with substance abuse, crime and death, but while the film has its nihilistic elements, it ends in a way that leaves the audience hopeful. The people who deserve a good ending get it: Renton ditches his awful friends and Spud is left £2000, and the characters who need punishment get it: Begbie, who spent the movie violently attacking and threatening innocent people, finally gets arrested. The characters aren’t one dimensional though: Each character has their own flaws and aspects that make them imperfect – Renton ruins his friend Tommy’s life by stealing a sex tape of Tommy and his girlfriend, which results in Tommy’s death, or Spud’s compliance with everything. And the soundtrack is especially memorable, using britpop and techno music to create an atmosphere of normality amongst the grime and filth that decorates the rest of the movie. The movie has a lot of interesting aspects and it all works together well, but its just not the type of movie that I really love. For what it is, however, it was very interesting and I enjoyed it.

Memorable Scene: Renton Goes Through Withdrawal

This scene stands out to me as it is an incredibly absurd scene in an otherwise pretty grounded movie. There are other times when the reality of what you are seeing is called into question, like when Renton completely submerges himself in a grimy toilet and he is shown swimming through an ocean of clean water, but this scene throws away any concept of sanity the movie had attempted to retain. Renton has just been taken out of the hospital following an overdose, and his parents have locked him in his childhood room in order to force him to go cold turkey. The following scene depicts his withdrawal hallucinations and is quite an unsettling few minutes. These hallucinations range from his friends appearing in his room to stare and talk at him, to Begbie being under his covers, a sickly-looking Tommy standing next to him, his room stretching away from him and his parents on a TV screen taking part in a quiz show where the questions have to do with his situation (questions about HIV etc). The most memorable hallucination though is him seeing the baby who died in their drug den crawling across the ceiling towards him, which culminates in the baby’s head twisting around to face him, and then the baby drops from the ceiling onto his face. The scene is uncomfortable and sickening, and the baby makes it quite creepy. Throughout the whole scene, techno music playing behind Renton’s panting and pained screaming., providing a darkly comic contrast between his visions and the music.