If your view of British life is derived mainly from sprawling county houses in Merchent Ivorymovies and Hugh Grant in cute romantic movies like ’’Four Weddings and a Funeral or Notting Hill’’ brace yourself for the other extreme.Danny Boyle’s low-budget movie is visually striking, with a superb, pulsating soundtrack and much witty dialogue.
Renton, the heroin-skinny protagonist, is brilliantly played by Ewan McGregor. It’s his ironic voice-overs, that give the movie its narrative structure(i have a strong liking for narrative movies & this ones clearly my fav). And if u r a Robert Carlyle fan then it will be a pity if u dont watch this movie.He plays the volatile, dangerous Begbie who, as Renton puts it, ’’doesn’t do drugs but people.But I found Sick Boy the most charming of them all , a big time fan of Sean Connery with his views on OSCARS pretty close to mine(’’Oscar is a sympathy vote’’ I couldnt have agreed more as the year I saw it TITANIC won a record breaking 11 Oscars)
Neither promoting nor condemning drugs explicitly, the film asks the viewer, without any moral lecture, to think for himself.And thats the strong point of this movie...being a film freak myself & maybe an aspiring filmmaker too :) I have a strong liking for films which show things as they r without any moralistic point of view, we have enuff low scum politicians doing it all the time & esp in a country like India there is no escape from it...its everywhere at home ...on the TV , movies ...if one wants to make a movie like that I think he would be better off making documentries for UNICEF .Dont u think u r wise enuff to decide urself instead of being told by some corrupt politician whose credentials r worse than the neighbourhood creeps.It’s not easy finding a ’’Gen X’’ film which doesn’t preach, or a drug film which doesn’t moralize, but Trainspotting avoids these traps, exuding a gritty, intelligent honesty. Boyle never shies away from the part of heroin use most directors are terrified of -- the sheer euphoria. And the cast so perfectly kicks out every aspect of addiction -- the high, the sickness, the need to score.
This approach may be unconventional, even disturbing, but it is an honorable one because, Boyle’s movie efficiently makes the same exact depressing points about drugs in a shockingly realistic way, that a more boring, educational film would tackle.
It dares to document the good times promised by drugs -- the good times that attract people to drugs in the first place. ’’Take the best orgasm you’ve ever had and multiply it by a thousand, and you’re still nowhere near it.’’ But at the same time never shys away from the lowlifes, the bad sex, the dirty toilets and the routine casualties of this world.Trainspotting is about an enthusiastic free fall toward self-destruction, which will either turn you on or turn you off. It’s your ’’choice’’ as Renton would have said.
Far from being a advertisement for heroin use, it’s a brilliant, unforgettable, brutually honest look at drug usage, at first heroin seems ecstatic and seductive; before long it’s an unending nightmare.
One of the best films to come out of Britain ever. So, take my word for it and grab the opportunity to get to know Renton, Begbie, Diane, Sick Boy, and Spud while you have the chance. These guys r one of the most memorable characters I have ever seen in my movie viewing life .U will definitely feel better about urself .I still wonder who was the chief of STAR MOVIES when they showed TRAINSPOTTING.