Trainspotting

Dir: Danny Boyle

1996

*****

I was in Art College in 1996 when Danny Boyle's cult adaptation of Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel was released. I remember being surrounded by rather annoying people (posh art students like myself) who hadn't read the book but seemed to immerse themselves in the culture that the story was about. The poster was iconic, the soundtrack was the soundtrack of the summer of 1996 and the film was quoted to the point where I was fed up to the back teeth of hearing about it. The film was misunderstood by those around me who thought that drug culture was somehow desirable and cool and I'm afraid it had something of an effect. I totally avoided the film, had no interest in it and didn't feel I was missing out. Friends would ask if my girlfriend at the time and I were going off for 'casual sex', they would re-enact the scene where the boys were asked what they were talking about (football) and the girls were asked what they were talking about (shopping), when both were talking about each other, and being called a biscuit-erse by a posh south-west London law student is indescribably irritating, especially when it's every day for a year. I secretly watched it about a year later and although I tried to resist, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've watched it once every few years since it was made and each time I feel slightly different about it, although I enjoy it more with every watch. I'm an extremely nostalgic person and the music alone triggers happy memories for me but it is amazing how much of an influence the film has been and how iconic it has become. It's amazing how everything about the film has become iconic too, from the artwork, music and the snappy direction of the film. Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave gave us something a bit new and Trainspotting was his opportunity to exercise what he'd learned and do what he thought he could get away with.  Producer Andrew McDonald worked with Miramax in selling the film to the American audience as a 'British Pulp Fiction' which clearly worked although it was a lazy comparison. Everything vaguely edgy during the 90s was described as the 'new Tarantino' which was really unfair on talented and creative directors such as Boyle. Trainspotting is remarkable in that every scene, and I do mean every scene, is memorable. I can forget scenes from all of my favourite films but Trainspotting is somehow in-bedded in my memory and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I've used the same word several times now but the term 'iconic' is the best way to describe Trainspotting all these years later. You know a film is doing something right by the amount of people who gathered to discredit it, without knowing what it was about and in a famous few cases, judging without even seeing it. It doesn't glamorize drug taking or addiction, quite the opposite, it shows what a destructive force it can be and the selfish monster it can turn you into. The ending may seem like a happy one but actually, it's a very self-centred and quite ugly conclusion, and beautifully so. The 'choice life' script was often quoted and somewhat overused but it really did make people of that generation think about things; life, consumerism, the future, independence and opportunity, and an overwhelming realization that you can buck trends without killing yourself. It is the quintessential film of my generation in many respects, and I have no problem with that.