Trainspotting

 

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a

fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players

and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental

insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter

home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose

a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose

DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting

on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing

fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it

all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an

embarrasment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace

yourself. Choose your future. Choose life. But why would I want to do a

thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And

the reasons there are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin.

 

So what is Trainspotting anyways?

 

What, have you been living under a rock? Trainspotting is the independent film starring Ewen McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller, and Ewen Bremner about five "friends", Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Tommy, and Begbie, all of whom, except Begbie, at some point in the film are heroin addicts. It's the film that took Brittain by storm and is described by Michael Willmington of the Chicago Tribune as "a pop culture fresco". It's truly a great film.

Oh, that's nice but I'd like a peek at the plot?

 

I was getting to that. The film begins with an eye-catching scene in which Mark Renton (Ewen McGregor, the main charachter) and his friends are running from the police on foot, while Renton describes the appeal of a normal life (top of page) with Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" in the background. This scene ends in the den of heroin dealer Mother Superior, where Renton, Sick Boy (Johnny Lee Miller), and Spud (Ewen Bremner) are getting high. Renton declares his intention to quit heroin.

He then sets out his plan of attack. Quicktime His friends join him in quitting heroin, but they soon find out that life without heroin is harder than it seems. They try to find alternatives to heroin such as shooting dogs in a park while Sick Boy explains his unifying theory of life but they find them of little comfort against the physical obsticles of heroin withdrawal as shown in the stomach-turning "Worst Toilet in Scottland"

Tommy, and at their homeland of Scottland. This leads Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and now even Tommy to turn once again to heroin. Meanwhile Renton begins to struggle with the idea that the world is changing while he is being left behind. The rest of the movie documents the pathetic state of their lives as heroin junkies and their struggles to quit and to "Choose Life". It is highlighted by the magnificently filmed overdose scene which is enhanced by the sounds of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" in the background, which is immediately followed up by the surreal Withdrawal scene. The film also includes music by many of Brittain's greatest bands such as Pulp, Blur, Elastica, and New Order. I could tell you more about this stellar cinnematic acheivement, but you would be far better served to go out and see it yourself.

Trainspotting Quotes

Renton: Relinquishing junk. Stage one, preparation. For this you will need one room which you will not leave. Soothing music. Tomato soup, ten tins of. Mushroom soup, eight tins of, for consumption cold. Ice cream, vanilla, one large tub of. Magnesia, milk of, one bottle. Paracetomal, mouthwash, vitamins. Mineral water, Lucozade, pornography. One mattress. One bucket for urine, one for feces and one for vomitus. One television and one bottle of Valium. Which I've already procured from my mother. Who is, in her own domestic and socially acceptable way also a drug addict. And now I'm ready.

All I need is one final hit to soothe the pain while the Valium takes effect.

 

Renton: Excuse me, excuse me. I don't mean to harass you, but I was very impressed with the capable and stylish manner in which you dealt with that situation. And I was thinking to myself, now this girl's special.

Diane: Thanks.

Renton: What's your name?

Diane: Diane.

Renton: And where are you going, Diane?

Diane: I'm going home.

Renton: Well, where's that?

Diane: It's where I live.

Renton: Great.

Diane: Why?

Renton: Well, I'll come back with you if you like, but like, I'm not

promising anything, you know

Diane: Do you find that this approach usually works? Or let me guess,

you've never tried it before. In fact, you don't normally approach girls -- am I right? The truth is that you're a quiet sensitive type but, if I'm prepared to take a chance, I might just get to know the inner you. Taxi! A little bit crazy, a little bit bad. But hey -- don't us girls just love that?

Renton: Eh?

Diane: Well, what's wrong boy -- cat got your tongue?

 

Renton: Now I've justified this to myself in all sorts of ways. It wasn't a big deal, just a minor betrayal. Or we'd outgrown each other, you know, that sort of thing. But let's face it, I ripped them off-- my so called mates. But Begbie, I couldn't give a shit about him. And Sick Boy, well he'd done the same to me, if he'd only thought of it first. And Spud, well okay, I felt sorry for Spud -- he never hurt anybody. So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers -- all false. The truth is that I'm a bad person. But, that's gonna change -- I'm going to chage. This is the last of that sort of thing. Now I'm cleaing up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm gonna be just like you. The job, the family, the fucking big television. The washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electric tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisure wear, luggage, three piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption clearing gutters, getting by, looking ahead, the day you die.

 

Renton: People think it's all about misery and desperation and death and all that shit which is not to be ignored, but what they forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. After all, we're not fucking stupid.

Tommy: Useless motherfucker -- THAT'S what she called me! "It's either ME or Iggy Pop!" she says.

Spud: So what're you gonna do?

Tommy: Well I already bought the fucking tickets!

 

Renton: Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

 

Tommy: Doesn't it make you proud to be Scottish?

Renton: I hate being Scottish. We're the lowest of the low. Most people hate the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We're colonised by wankers. We couldn't even find a decent race to be colonised by. It's a shite state of affairs to be in, and no amount of fresh air is ever going to change that.

 

Renton: Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers...choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose a future. Choose life...

But why would I want to do a thing like that?

 

Sick Boy: Do you shee the beasht? Have you got it in your shights?

Renton: Clear enough, Mish Moneypenny.

 

Rents: Sick Boy's always been lacking in moral fiber

Swanny: He knows a lot about Sean Connery

Rents: That's hardly a subsitute

 

Diane: "You can't sit around all day with your heroin and listening to

Ziggy Pop."

Rents: "It's Iggy Pop."

Diane: "Whatever, the guy's dead anyway."

Rents: "Iggy Pop is not dead. He toured last year. Tommy went to see him."

JFlitter@xtra.co.nz