Trainspotting : A Movie Review

It was my first time watching a film that is about substance-abuse and I actually liked it (Not because I'm a drug user or whatever haha) The revolves around Renton and his friends' addiction to heroin, their  downs, downs and downs. It is also about the urban poverty that they experienced in Edinburgh. Finally Mark Renton decided to "choose life" over drugs, it may be difficult for him to get clean from heroin but he managed to be free in the addiction and he tried to get a pretty decent life in London as a real estate agent. When he thought that his life will be okay, that's when Begbie and Spud went into his home and tried to get Renton into heroin again. But Renton was sober enough to think that drugs will ruin his life and in the end he left his friends for a "decent life".

What I liked about the movie is (1) the whole movie was narrated by Mark himself: making the approach of the movie more personal to its audience, it also looked like the movie was a firsthand account from a drug addict. 

Mark and his friends

(2) the cast: the actors portrayed their roles well especially Mark (there are scenes in the movie that you will feel like he was really in the influence of drugs, as well as his friends) and Begbie, every time that Begbie was in the scene, he will make his presence felt and as an audience, you will hate the living daylight out of him. Also, before playing Begbie,he portrayed the role in "The Priest" where he played a very innocent person and in the Trainspotting, he transformed into a very violent and reckless person. I commend the performance of Spud who stayed sober in the end of his imprisonment.

Bedroom Scene

(3) The sound scoring: The music that they used, especially when Mark is locked up inside of his room and he's hallucination, the background music will sink into your system too and I also sensed the hallucination because the sound repeats from time to time and it does not stop. (4) Camera shots: I think that this movie would not be as successful as it is, if those camera shots were not that spot on. The cinematographer utilized shots that will make the watchers feel like they are also a part of the film. Finally (5) The storyline: They adopted the movie from the book.and I assume that it reflected the details in the book. Talking about drugs that detailed in a movie (from what I have read) somehow saved the movie industry in the United Kingdom. Drugs and Sex in a movie is not that taboo anymore but it is refreshing to see a film that is different from the mainstream movies that tackle love.

UPDATE: They are planning to make Trainspotting 2!!! OMG, I'm so excited! :)) For details about the sequel click HERE!! 

- KC