Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, UK, 1996) August 17, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Comedy, 1990s, Drama, Film reviews, Crime , trackbackDir. Danny Boyle; screenplay by John Hodge; starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald
Danny Boyle’s psychedelic journey into the anti-establishment drug-culture of Edinburgh’s youth is seen through the hedonistic excess of Ewan McGregor’s drug-obsessed Renton. It’s a brilliant portrayal of the underbelly of working class society, hinged on Renton’s disillusioned contempt for life.
The soundtrack score works in perfect harmony with Boyle’s examination of drugs and their affect on users. Some have criticised the film for glamorising drugs but I can hardly see how Renton’s harrowing rehabilitation and the baby’s death in the drug’s den, can be seen as pro-heroin. The director’s point is that these complacent people should not be pitied - they got themselves into this situation and only they can get themselves out of it. The film doesn’t glamorise drugs, it simply chooses to not judge the people who use them.
This is Boyle’s best film to date. It is technically superb – the direction and editing are stylishly energetic, with Brian Tufano’s hallucinogenic photography drawing the viewer into this world of needles, heroin and Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’. The acting is also excellent with Ewan McGregor turning in, what remains, the best performance of his career. He’s ably supported by the psychotic but brilliant Robert Carlyle (again, arguably the best performance of his career), the child-in-a-man’s-body Ewen Bremner, and the clean-turned-addict Kevin McKidd.
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