Trainspotting was directed by Danny Boyle. It stars Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee-Miller, Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremner.

Trainspotting follows Renton (McGregor), a young drug addict who is trying to get clean and live a better life by moving to London. Soon, however, his friends, Sick Boy (Miller), Spud (Bremner) and Begbie (Carlyle) are tempting him back into the world of drug taking…

I thought Trainspotting was brilliant. It’s a film driven by a great cast, an addictive soundtrack and slick and stylish direction from Boyle, which at the same time shows the horrific nature of drug addiction and its impact on people.

Boyle is a brilliant visual storyteller and one of the things I love about the film is how he uses his visual style throughout the film to really drop the audience into the rough world the characters live in. This starts right with the cinematography in the opening chase scene – the way the camera follows them close up and tracks fast gives the sequence a raw and low budget feel to it.

But what I love most about Trainspotting is how Boyle and writer John Hodge tell a story that’s not really about the drugs – but about friendship. As the film goes on, we really care about Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and even Begbie and their relationships with each other – how Begbie always starts a fight and how the four banter with each other over which Bond film is the best. And the reason we care about them is because they are very humanely written and wonderfully developed characters and their relationships feel very genuine. Through these four, we see the highs and lows of friendship and how relationships aren’t easy. Hodge’s humane writing matched with Boyle’s direction makes these friendships beautiful and funny to watch.

Boyle’s style is especially powerful in the baby on the ceiling scene. The way the room lengthens to follow the dead baby crawling across the ceiling towards Renton, emphasises Renton’s horrified reaction as his mental state deteriorates – it’s unnerving to watch. It’s this scene which shows how good Boyle is at using visuals to tell the story, as we see how far Renton has fallen because of taking drugs and we experience the emotional impact withdrawing from drugs has on him.

I also loved the cast. They all do a great job of making their characters compelling, but also likeable and interesting. Carlyle’s Begbie is a truly vile character, but at the same time, we’re interested in him as a person, despite his psychopathic actions. But I thought McGregor stole it. He creates great pathos, conveying the emotional impact of drug addiction on Renton, as we hear him narrating his thoughts. Also, McGregor delivers that “Choose life” speech brilliantly, which is now one of my favourite speeches in all of film history!

The music is also brilliant. The soundtrack is addictive to listen to, and carries the emotion of the film really well. For me though, Iggy Pop’s Lust for life truly steals it – it really gives the opening style and shows how powerful music can be to the success of a film. After the film’s release in 1996, everyone bought the soundtrack to Trainspotting!

My overall thoughts:

Trainspotting isn’t about drugs, it’s about friendship. From the cast to the soundtrack, it really is a cult classic of British cinema.  I loved it and would highly recommend it!  It gets a 10/10.

PS Expect a review of T2 Trainspotting soon!