This week's movie is one of my absolute favorites. "Trainspotting". . . I first heard about "Trainspotting" when I scanned the front of the Arts & Leisure section of the New York Times and saw, in the corner, a rather small picture of Jonny Lee Miller, lying on his stomach in the grass with some other actor whom I didn't know at the time, though I had seen him before. I read the article, and soon fell in love with the movie. This love turned to passion, then obsession, as I proceded to read every article, clipping, and sentence about the movie I could find. Magazines, newspapers, web sites. The tiniest bit of information was like food to me. Nourishment. . . Then the fateful night arrived. The night I went to see my obsession in the theatre. I dragged my parents with me, insisting that they HAD to see this absolutely wonderful movie which had taken up so much of my attention span for the last month or so. . . Needless to say, I had a huge grin on my face throughout the entire movie. I enjoyed every second of it.
HISTORY:
"Trainspotting" first started out as a novel by the Scottish author Irvine Welsh, who has written other books based on the Scottish drug scene, "The Acid House", "Ecstacy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance", and one book titled "Marabou Stork Nightmares". "Trainspotting later became a play, but I'm not sure what production compony put it on or where. . .The movie was concieved when Andrew MacDonald, producer, recomended "Trainspotting" to director Danny Boyle, who fell in love with it. John Hodge, the third member of the British Film Triumvirate, went to work adapting the novel to a screenplay before MacDonald even secured the movie rights. And so "Trainspotting" was born.
PLOT:
The plot involves 5 friends and a girlfriend. Mark Renton is the protagonist and narrator on our journey through the Edinburgh heroin scene. A long time junkie, Mark makes the decision to quit heroin for good. And quitting right along with him is his Sean Connery/James Bond obsessed friend, Sick Boy. . . Among Renton's friend are included Begbie, a pyschotic "macho man", Spud, a dim witted yet loyal friend, and Tommy, a straight edged jock too into Iggy Pop for his own good. . . After renton decides to get back on heroin, he and Spud are caught shoplifting, and renton is forced into rehab. After his grueling experience, he is finally "clean" and makes a consious effort to be "normal", He gets a job as a real estate agent (just like Welsh as he was writing the book, coincidence? I think not). Begbie and Sick Boy eventually hunt him down with a get-rich-quick scheme. They are in possession of a large sum of heroin and are going to sell it. renton takes part and the rest is for you to see.
CAST:
Mark Renton is played beautifully by Ewan Mcgreggor, formerly of "Shallow Grave", Hodge and MacDonald's first film.
Sick Boy is played by Jonny Lee Miller of "Hackers". Interesting note, Jonny Lee Miller married the heroine of "Hackers", Angelina Jolie, during the production of "Trainspotting". Another interesting note, Miller's grandfather was Bernard Lee who played "M" in the first few James Bond films.
Francis Begbie is played by Robert Carlyle who can now be seen in "The Full Monty".
Spud is played by Ewan Bremmer.
CONTROVERSY:
There was great controversy, both in Britain and the US, over the films message about drug use. Some said it romanticized heroin, others defended it, saying that it was meant to show the reality of drug use. Here is what the stars of "Trainspotting" had to say:
Kelly Macdonald: "Diane"
"The idea that you'd come out of the film thinking
'I'm going to become a heroin addict' is bollocks. It
completely puts you off. But if someone really wants to
take drugs, they're gonna do it no matter what"
Jonny Lee Miller: "Sick Boy"
"If you show WHY people take drugs, you get a
better understanding. That's much more responsible than just showing the
down-side. People don't give audiences enough credit. They think
they're so easily led."
Kevin McKidd: "Tommy"
"To start with, the film makes taking drugs seem very
desirable, but very quickly it shows the actual consequences - especially
with Tommy, who was totally innocent to the drug scene
and what it can do to you."
Robert Carlyle: "Begbie"
"One thing that's never spoken about is why people take
drugs in the first place: because they enjoy them. You
get high PLUS you escape your problems. I think that's
very, very strong throughout the film."
Ewan Bremmer: "Spud"
"I believe the film sets up drugs and knocks them
down. But in a lot of ways, the characters are
sort of designer junkies rather than authentic junkies; they're really
exaggerated in a really filmic way."
Ewan McGregor: "Renton"
"It's still such a big taboo. Junk is just the
lense; the humanity behind the lense is the topic. And
how many people die because they're drunk and fall under a train?"
- Related Links -
The Depot, has just about everything
The official Green Edition page
Ewan McGregor page
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