trainspotting

June 25 ONLY

Showtime  – 7 pm

Rated 18A– 1hr 34min
Dark Comedy / Drama

“Choose life . . . I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else,” says Mark Renton at the start of Trainspotting. That wryly ironic, quietly devastating and now-famous monologue, scored with Iggy Pop’s mad rush of a punk anthem, “Lust for Life,” sets off a cinematic whirlwind. Trainspotting returns to theaters in a digital restoration for its 30th anniversary, it is stunning how screenwriter John Hodge and director Danny Boyle crafted this utterly captivating portrait of an utter dirtbag. As played by Ewan McGregor in a star-making role, Renton is a thieving, lying, self-defeating waste of human DNA who spends his days shooting up in a sleazy heroin den in Edinburgh that couldn’t look worse if it had been bombed by the Luftwaffe.

Renton’s surroundings mirror his soul: bombed into rubble. He is an antihero like Henry Hill in Goodfellas—with which Trainspotting shares many stylistic traits, and which is one of its few competitors for the title of best film of the 1990s—but he’s trying to fix himself. Despite his blithe dismissal of all things normal in that sarcastic opening speech (“choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance”), by the second scene he’s trying to kick his habit. It doesn’t go well. Soon he’s diving into the worst toilet in Scotland.

Those who have ventured into the darker corners of addiction know that one of its few consolations, once the fun has worn off, is the camaraderie with fellow practitioners. Substance abuse sets the user apart from the daily lives of ordinary people. No matter how well the addict may seem to be functioning, there is always the secret agenda, the knowledge that the drug of choice is more important than the mundane business at hand, such as friends, family, jobs, play and sex.

Trainspotting has surpassed simply being a great film, it has left behind an indelible legacy that allows it to be remembered just as fondly twenty five years later. Although the movie portrayed a Scotland of the time, it still speaks volumes; an accurate representation of the country, its people and their attitudes (“It’s shite being Scottish!”). More importantly, however, Trainspotting has entertained and inspired many over the years. Although it has produced its fair share of cringe-inducing copycats, it has also inspired filmmakers all over the world with its seducing blend of contradictory elements that should not work together yet somehow do.

Trainspotting is, simply put, a masterpiece; a film that is sure to be remembered as such for another thirty years and possibly even longer. If you have never seen Trainspotting, stop what you are doing and go out of your way to watch it right this second.