Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 23 wins & 35 nominations total
- Gail's Mother
- (as Ann-Louise Ross)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough it looks thoroughly off-putting, the feces in the Worst Toilet in Scotland scene was actually made from chocolate and smelled quite pleasant.
- GoofsAfter Renton has sex with Diane, he has nothing on his penis, but once he gets kicked out into the hallway, he pulls a condom off.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: [narrating] 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 suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on 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, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
- Crazy creditsThe voice-over during the end of the end credits cites the seven movies in which Sean Connery played "James Bond".
- Alternate versionsThe Special Edition did not feature the trailer and video. These were available in the Green Edition. UK 'Green Edition' video release is in widescreen format and includes the nine extra scenes featured in the box set special edition, the original theatrical trailer (which doesn't use any of the film's footage) and the complete promotional video of Underworld's Born Slippy, the hit song spawned from the soundtrack.
- SoundtracksLust for Life
Performed by Iggy Pop
Words and Music by Iggy Pop / David Bowie
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd/EMI Virgin Music Ltd/Tintoretto Music
Administered by RZO Music
Courtesy of Virgin Records America Inc
The film follows the lives of a group of drug attics in Scotland in the late 1980's but is constructed less as a conventional narrative and more as a series of vignettes connected by characters and set to the film's dazzling soundtrack (the fact that I mention the scenes being 'set' to the soundtrack is proof of its importance in this particular film). Almost every scene is as powerful as the next, with three montages in particular being possibly the definitive examples of how to do a memorable cinematic montage.
Pop culture has been kind to "Trainspotting", remembering it as a unique and great film, especially in Britain. I certainly do not disagree with this consensus, but I feel the film has been hurt by familiarity, with even television series like "Family Guy" parodying the film's well-known scenes (and badly). This doesn't mean that the film's popularity is being hurt, but that it doesn't feel as fresh and original to people now as it did back in 1996. This is hardly the thing the film's reputation suffers most from however, with the significantly large number of people who claim the film supports and promotes drug use. I have to ask, and forgive my rudeness, how stupid can you possibly be? No, drug addicts in this film are not vilified, but they are consistently shown in a brutally realistic and horrifically tragic context, and just because the film doesn't go out of its way to emotionally manipulate you into completely hating its characters doesn't mean that it promotes drug use, it means that it's a knowing film careful enough not to become a sappy, melodramatic Hollywood product.
The acting is phenomenal, the music is terrific, the film is a pitch-perfect example of energizing editing and brilliant use of montage, and its script is one of the best ever written, alternately hilarious, horrifying, tragic, and benefiting from a rare level of depth and resonance. A British classic is what Trainspotting is recognized as, and a British classic is what it is.
10/10
- ametaphysicalshark
- Mar 12, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Lối Sống Đồi Trụy
- Filming locations
- Corrour Railway Station, Highland, Scotland, UK(on location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £1,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,491,080
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $262,673
- Jul 21, 1996
- Gross worldwide
- $16,767,475
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