Choose Life, Choose Trainspotting (1996)(Review)

When Criterion announced Trainspotting (1996) as a January release in October, I was ecstatic. It’s one of my favourite films. The Blu-ray Lionsgate have already put out is a great release, but it’s awesome that a company like Criterion re-releases it (it was in the collection in laserdisc form) with extras that have never been on other releases and a booklet. I haven’t seen this film in probably 7-8 years, so it was nice to rewatch it after all this time.

Trainspotting is a film that could have been only made in the 90s. With the bright colours, pop music from various time periods, and anti-hero characters – it really is a staple of this era of film. It seems clear to me that Danny Boyle, the director, took inspiration from other films of the 90s like Pulp Fiction (1994), True Romance (1993) which were commercial films that showed drug use and violence more than films had previously. The film follows a group of ‘friends’ as they navigate life while most of them use heroin. Ewan McGregor stars as Renton, Ewan Bremmer as Spud, Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy, and Robert Carlyle as Begbie. And Kelly Macdonald as Renton’s underage girlfriend, Diane.

The main character Renton, played spectacularly by an almost unrecognizable Ewan McGregor, embodies the anti hero persona. Renton is nihilistic, and self loathing, believing that normal people don’t interest him and he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. While having a character like this is nothing new, especially with cinematic icons like Travis Bickle – Renton is still a unique character. In terms of where the U.K. was, Renton can be seen as a rebuttal against Margret Thatcher and her policies/ beliefs. It is even more clear with Renton changing one of her quotes from “They are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there’s no such thing as society.” (Thatcher 1987) to Renton’s “There is no such thing as society and even if there was, I most certainly have nothing to do with it.”

The film starts immediately following Renton and Spud being chased by the police. The upbeat ‘Lust for Life’ by Iggy Pop plays, making the opening scene seem happy. Like Renton and Spud are doing the right thing and are happy with where they are in life. Later in the movie, the scene is replayed, this time in chronological order to the story. This time it’s revealed that they are running from the cops after the death of a baby. The death hits all of the main characters hard, especially Sick Boy who the audience later finds out is the father. This time the scene is played with ‘Sing’ by Blur, a sombre, reflective song. A clear opposite from the scenes previous outing. And of course the scene plays out the same, but the difference in music is the only change; changing it from a happy, exciting scene to a sad and troubling one. Of course, in the beginning, we don’t know why they are running. But the second time the scene is shown it is clear what they are running, both literally and proverbially.

As Renton says, “Our only response was to keep going and f*ck everything pile misery upon misery… Propelling ourselves with longing towards the day that it would all go wrong, because no matter how much you stash, or how much you steal you never have enough. No matter how often you go out and rob and f*ck people over, you always need to get up and do it all over again.”

All this is done to perfection by Danny Boyle. The second time it is shown is my probably favourite scene of the film, especially combined with Blur’s Sing. Even though it comes right after the saddest moment of the film. Renton and his friends have lost all hope and don’t give a f*ck anymore about the consequences. They are just trying to forget what happened.

Renton is not a good character, not a hero. But he is the character that we follow so we as the audience will tend to view him with more sympathy. He screws over Tommy and is mainly responsible for his decline and eventually death. As Renton gets better, Tommy gets worse. Renton sees Tommy what he used to be, and watching his friend get worse is able to positively motivate him. And in the end, he screws over his so called ‘friends’ out of their ill gotten money. He realizes they’re not his friends but people he hangs out with. And there is a difference. In the end, the only one he cares about is Spud because Spud wouldn’t have ripped off Renton; which Sick Boy and Begbie both admitted they would do. Though he leaves Spud with his share of the deal.

Danny Boyle is able to be quite creative with the camera shots, one of the reasons the film is so iconic. When Renton ODs, the shots of him still in the carpet as he’s going to the hospital are very well done and greatly represent the feelings of watching oneself in third person. Watching what is happening to you, without being able to do anything at all. While he is being brought into the hospital, many of the other people there are looking at him with disgust or pity. I’d like to think that this is one of the reasons that Renton really tries to get clean. Another incredible sequence is when Renton tries to go cold turkey. His parents lock him in his room to sweat it out. In there, he sees delusions, ranging from Diane singing, Spud in chains, and Begbie in his bed. All of these are shot extremely well, given the film had a pretty small budget. But the most intense and creative part of this scene is Renton, watching in horror, as the baby that just died is crawling toward him on the ceiling. As terrifying as it is, it is probably the best and most well known shot in the film. The baby turns its head around like Linda Blair in the Exorcist (1973) and falls upon Renton as he fails, covered in sweat.

In 1996, while running for President of the United States, Senator Bob Dole commented that Trainspotting and Pulp Fiction promoted drug use and made it look appealing and cool. Later on, though, Dole admitted that he had not seen both films. This idea was a common misconception for both films, and other films released at the time. Especially in Trainspotting’s case, the film shows both the reasons why people do drugs, and why drugs can be bad. As Renton states, “Take the best orgasm you’ve ever had… multiply it by a thousand, and you’re still nowhere near it.” The euphoria of drugs/ the pleasure of it can be unlike anything else in the world. And Trainspotting nails that aspect of it. The film also shows the downside of drug use, because Sick Boy and the baby’s mother used drugs constantly, their baby ended up dying from neglect. Renton overdoses and could have died. Tommy ends up getting HIV and dying. Nothing about this film promotes drug use. In the span of 90 minutes, it discourages it entirely.

I haven’t seen all the extras but I read the entire booklet. It’s pretty nice, it includes a few essays and a glossary that would help non U.K. people with some of the language and slang. So far, it is a Region A release only but there is a 4k release that can be seen by people in the U.K. Though the special features Blu-ray that would come with it would be Region B.

Ben’s Archive – Trainspotting (1996)