A real work of art

Rating: 10/10 (15 December 2002)

One of the truly unique and creative flicks of the last twenty years; a "Pulp Fiction" for the very un-fictive AIDS plague that resulted from the salad days of Edinburgh's heroin revival. Ironically, like Quentin Tarantino, director Danny Boyle has since embarrassed himself with soft-minded disasters, e.g. "The Beach", with its even softer-headed heart-throb, DiCaprio. Maybe there was a hint of this already in the soundtrack with its heavy dose of early smack bards like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. But the wit and grit, the great writing, the heroin-induced hallucination sequences, the sheer filth of it all, and oh, the performances. "Trainspotting" made the careers of Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle, not to mention Kelly Macdonald who has since graced us with her "Gosford Park" presence. This one deserves more attention than it gets.