Trainspotting

Since I watched Requiem for a Dream again the other day, I thought I might as well catch Trainspotting (1996), too, finally. I can’t tell why I never did before... Anyway, the film opens with a profound question: why choose all the conventional comfortable con- veniences of commercialized com- modities, of capitalist consumerism? Why be like everybody else? Don’t be. Why? There are no reasons. Now that’s deep; that’s me, in a nutshell: a non- conformist. But beyond that, don’t worry, I’m not a heroin addict, nor do I look like Ewan McGregor. So the similarities end right there.

Through the eyes of McGregor’s character “Rent Boy,” we follow a group of friends in 80s recession Edinburgh, some of whom are heroin addicts, while others are openly critical about doing drugs. Soon, Rent Boy tries to quit cold turkey. Later, when they’re hanging out at a bar, his sociopathic buddy Begbie causes a violent brawl. Then they go clubbing, Rent Boy falls in love, and whaddaya know, Blondie’s on the soundtrack. (Oh, the irony, but don’t worry if you didn’t catch that one – inside joke.)

Conventional life quickly becomes boring. So, Rent Boy and his friends start using again – anything they can get their hands on. And even clean kid Tommy (actor Keven McKidd, who we now know and love as Lucius Vorenus) starts using, because his girlfriend dumped him. Things start to unravel fast. A baby dies of neglect – one of the guys, Sick Boy, was probably the father. Rent Boy and his buddy Spud get arrested. Spud has to go to prison, Rent Boy goes into a rehabilitation program. But not for long, because he overdoes. His parents decide to lock him up in his room where he suffers from severe hallucinations. And (another insider) right when Rent Boy hit rock bottom, Lou Reed plays “A Perfect Day”! (Man, did they make this movie especially for me? Great soundtrack: Iggy Pop, Eno, New Order, Blur, Pulp, sheez!)

Meanwhile, Tommy has contracted HIV. Rent Boy tries to leave his mates behind and moves to a yuppie real estate gig in London. But before he knows it his friends catch up with him. Begbie shows up hiding from the police for robbing a bank. Sick Boy arrives, too, living off Rent Boy. Then Tommy passes away. Back in Scotland, the remaining friends decide to buy two kilos of heroin and sell it in London for a huge profit. Begbie spoils the party with yet another violent brawl. Rent Boy steals the money off Begbie, leaving some for Spud in a locker, and decides to opt for the conventional life he derided at the onset of the film.

While the film grabs the viewer’s attention with coarsely humorous and criminally violent scenes, dismally horrifying and repulsively disgusting scenes – sometimes all at once – what gives it emotional depth is the bond among the friends. They’re partners in crime. It’s a buddy flick – about guys who happen to be substance abusers. There’s an open ending, but it’s not a Hollywood Happy Ending. From Rent Boy’s previous attempts, we know he will come full circle again. He will fall back into his habit. That seems, to me at least, the message of the episodic and fragmentary narrative, that there are ups and downs, moments of clarity in the drug-infused haze, attempts to stay clean, but eventually the addiction will take over again – all it takes is one shot. This isn’t an anti-drug movie by any stretch of the imagination, but neither is it a pro-drug movie. Set among crime-infested urban poverty, this is social criticism. The heroin high is the one thing that makes them feel fine for a while, until they feel even worse – and then the buddies are there to go out and score some more, until they die.