Trainspotting
(from
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Trainspotting
is a 1996 film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel Trainspotting by
Irvine Welsh. The movie is about a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh
and their passage through life. It stars Ewan McGregor (as Mark Renton), Ewen
Bremner (as Spud Murphy), Jonny Lee Miller (as Sick Boy), Kevin McKidd (as
Tommy), Robert Carlyle (as Begbie) and Kelly Macdonald (as Diane). Author Irvine
Welsh also has a brief appearance as drug dealer Mikey Forrester. The
screenplay was adapted from Welsh's novel by John Hodge. It does not contain
any references to the non-drug-related hobby of train spotting. The
title is
a reference to an episode in the original book (not included in the film) where
Begbie and Renton meet "an auld drunkard" in the disused Leith Central
railway station, which they are visiting to use as a toilet. He asks them (in
a weak attempt at a joke) if they are "trainspottin". As they walk
away, Renton realizes the drunk was Begbie's father (p309, Minerva edition).
Its release sparked controversy in some countries, including
the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, as to whether it promoted
drug use or not.
The film's release was supported by an imaginative marketing campaign using
flyers inspired by rave culture and posters of each of the main actors. Owing
to illness, Kevin McKidd went on holiday having finished shooting for the film
and did not attend the photoshoot for the posters.
Cast
- Ewan McGregor - Mark Renton
- Ewen Bremner - Daniel "Spud" Murphy
- Jonny Lee Miller - Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson
- Robert Carlyle - Francis Begbie
- Kevin McKidd - Tommy MacKenzie
- Kelly Macdonald - Diane Forman
- Peter Mullan -Swanney (Mother Superior)
- James Cosmo - Mr Renton
- Eileen Nicholas - Mrs Renton
- Susan Vidler - Allison
- Pauline Lynch - Lizzy
- Shirley Henderson - Gail
- Irvine Welsh - Mikey Forrester
Plot summary
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Set in Edinburgh, the film begins with a narration from Mark "Rent-Boy" Renton
as he urges people from all walks of life to "choose life" -
meaning they should choose to live a traditional family lifestyle with children,
holidays and material possessions. As the narration continues, we are introduced
to Renton's four friends: Sick Boy, Spud, Tommy and Begbie. As the
narration ends, we see Renton in a dirty flat with his friends preparing a
needle and drugs. His
train of thought ends with: "Who needs all that (a normal life) when you've
got heroin?" and we see that Mark Renton left the path of orthodoxy long
ago for the pleasures of heroin and other drugs.
Sick Boy, a James Bond trivia expert and less-than-trustworthy
guy, is also a heroin addict, as is Spud, a quirky and squirrely friend.
Tommy and Begbie,
on the other hand, openly criticise heroin use; Tommy is always with his girlfriend,
Lizzie, while Begbie is a violence-prone psychopath. (As Mark Renton says: "Begbie
didn't do drugs. He did people." This point is further illustrated in
a bar scene where Begbie, for no reason, throws his pint glass off a bar balcony
and uses the injury of a woman below as an excuse to start a brawl with pubgoers.)
The movie begins to follow the quintet as they go through
life - mostly focusing on the drug addictions of Sick Boy, Spud and Renton.
Sick Boy and Renton agree
to quit heroin, and start off well enough, then join Tommy, Begbie and Spud
in a dance club where all five men are in pursuit of sex. Begbie and Sick Boy
pick up girls at the club. The other three men have more complicated nights.
After complaining about his relationship problems to his mates, Tommy takes
Lizzie home for sex. Their desire to make love while watching a porno video
of themselves is unsuccessful because Renton stole the tape. (Not knowing this,
Tommy believes he returned it to the video store - a point of contention with
Lizzie that later leads to the relationship's end.) Spud drinks too much, as
he's in a temporary no-sex relationship with his girlfriend, Gail. That night
when Gail tries to reopen their sex life, Spud passes out and defecates on
her parents' bed. Mark Renton flirts with a young girl named Diane, who quickly
dissects his bad chat-up lines, but takes him home anyway. After the two have
sex, Mark Renton is forced to sleep on a couch outside her bedroom and discovers
the next morning that he is actually at her parents' house and that she is
an underage high school student. He tries to end their relationship, but she
blackmails him into staying in contact lest she calls the police and tells
of their one-night stand.
With their quest to be sober not as thrilling as
hoped, Sick Boy, Spud and Mark Renton get back on heroin. The film shows
a montage of drug taking and dirty
dealings, while Renton narrates that he and his mates tried all drugs known
to man while only having one thing on their mind: When's my next score and
what do I have to do to get it? At this point, Tommy is dumped by Lizzie and
looks for solace in heroin like his mates, having been told it's "the
ultimate hit ... Better than sex." Renton's life of stealing and drugs
continues on, but quickly takes many turns for the worse - beginning with the
screaming of Allison at their flat. While all the men sleep, Allison, another
heroin addict and flat regular, screams uncontrollably when she realizes that,
in her drug-induced stupor, she neglected her baby for days and it has died
of dehydration in its cot. All are shocked and feel terrible - Sick Boy most
of all (as he is the father). A short time later, Mark Renton and Spud are
caught stealing from a department store. Spud goes to jail but Renton avoids
incarceration
by voluntarily enlisting in a drug treatment programme where he is supplied
with the opiate substitute methadone.
Even though his journey to sobriety begins with much love
from his parents and mates (such as Sick Boy and Begbie), within hours Renton
is back at the
flat of his dealer - named Mother Superior for the length of his habit - and
orders more heroin. Mark Renton overdoses on the heroin and is dragged carelessly
by Mother Superior and a taxi driver to the hospital, where nurses save his
life. Seeing no other option, Renton's parents lock him in his own room to
beat the addiction cold turkey. He has several hallucinations, including Spud
in jail, a now HIV-infected Tommy, and - famously - Allison's dead baby crawling
toward him on the ceiling. His parents finally allow him to leave the room
to get tested for HIV at the hospital.
Finally clean of heroin, and with Spud in jail and
Tommy dying from AIDS, Renton feels no purpose in life and decides to move
to London and start a job
as an estate agent. Renton continues his sobriety while enjoying the vibrancy
of London and saving up some money on the side. His happiness is again short-lived,
however, as Begbie arrives at his London flat seeking a hiding place because
the police are after him for armed robbery. Sick Boy suddenly shows up and
decides to live with them as well - and once again, Renton is frustrated that
he cannot turn these "mates" away. As things are boiling over in
the small space, the three are told of Tommy's death of AIDS back in Scotland.
They return home and meet Spud, who is now out of jail.
Following Tommy's funeral, Sick Boy suggests a large
and dangerous drug deal opportunity for them; the chance to buy two kilos
of heroin for £4000
and sell it for up to £20,000. Begbie puts up much of the payment money,
having just won a large bet, then demands Renton put up the rest, as Begbie
has seen Renton's bank statements and knows he can afford it. Though he has
bad feelings about the deal and will have to try heroin again in the course
of it, Mark Renton has no choice but to agree. The foursome meet a big-time
heroin dealer and end up selling the heroin for £16,000 - leading to
a rare afternoon of pure joy between all four mates. Mere hours after the deal
is
finished, Begbie draws a knife on an unarmed man in a pub and beats him almost
to death while accidentally slicing Spud's hand open as well. Renton, who had
considered stealing all the money from his mates (who he has begun to realise
are not really his mates at all), decides then and there, as Begbie stands
over the beaten man and demands a cigarette to come down his from "high."
That night, Renton pulls the bag of money away from
a sleeping Begbie before he leaves. Taking the money and his passport, he
leaves the country and starts
a new life: the life he described at the beginning of the film. When Begbie
awakes, he is furious and begins to destroy the room, attracting the attention
of the police. Sick Boy goes home empty-handed. Mark Renton, however, leaves £2000
for Spud in a locker at the airport.
Mark Renton's narration
Renton's constant narration is an example of an unreliable narrator. Several
times in the film, he speaks of "one last hit" or a "final hit," though,
of course, the heroin wears off quickly and he soon seeks another hit to feed
his addiction. At the end of the film, he pledges to "choose life" (and
go straight) but the £14,000 slung over his shoulder, as well as his
recent reintroduction to heroin use, make his statement questionable. The last
time we see Mark Renton inject heroin, he notes that "there are final
hits and final hits. Which one ws this going to be?" By not answering
his own question, he keeps audiences guessing whether he will indeed "choose
life."
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