A nihilistic and satirical journey

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2019)

Trainspotting is a philosophical film, as much as it avoids self-proclaiming such a fact; the fact that the sobering self-evident, albeit ironic, insights of a heroin addict can be so profound; that life itself is just a pursuit of sex, money, and gratification in its various instances. That something as simple as heroin could, allegedly, replace any conventional pursuit of dopamine and higher purpose; the job, the car, the family, the greater good.
Heroin is just simplifying human pursuits and endeavors down to the single point of a needle, the needle we have been looking for in the haystack, the basic chemical that compels human activity and purpose; drug addict Mark Renton asks why we should complicate that pursuit.
"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?"
The very title of the film "Trainspotting" confronts the fact that human life and fulfillment could be seen as entirely subjective, i.e. the seemingly pointless and mind-numbing hobby of train spotting: Those who are "trainspotters" make an effort to "spot" all of a certain type of rolling stock. This might be a particular class of locomotive, a particular type of carriage or all the rolling stock of a particular company. To this end, they collect and exchange detailed information about the movements of locomotives and other equipment on the railway network, and become very knowledgeable about its operations. I've bored you already, but that's the point, it's subjective.
Alternatively, there are those who choose to jump under trains and wait to "spot" the trains before doing so, the title is ambiguous in that sense; a matter of sheer perspective.
It's rough subject matter, but to viewers that can entertain a thought without necessarily accepting it (or accepting it), you'll get the most out of this.
8.3/10A satirical and nihilistic journey