Locks you into its world  a staggering achievement

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2006)

For Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his mates in Edinburgh's working class there are only two ways to get through life  to be high or to try to get high. But what happens when one junkie in the gang decides to quit?
Danny Boyle's raw, energetic, sprawling surge into the drug-world zooms in on a running triumvirate of heroin-junkies escaping from the cops in the first scene of the film, Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life" playing vibrantly in the background. Cut to Sick Boy (Johnny Lee Miller) and his mates shooting up on the carpet of their seedy flat, discussing the merits of James Bond like it is the most natural thing in the world. "Trainspotting" revolves almost circularly (it lacks a bit of focus, it needs to be said) around this group of Scottish junkies. They are living from hit to hit, robbing tourists, shooting up, beating, trashing  and although they are our heroes, we feel so, so sorry for them and their nightmarish existence.
Pity is exactly the reason why this is an anti-drug film. It was mistakenly condemned by conservative viewers for promoting drug use but here it is clear that it does everything but. If anyone has the slightest desire to use any kind of drug afterward they should see a shrink. The film is incredibly brutal and brave in its exploration of the darker sides of drug addiction; it takes an unflinching look at the after-effects on addicts, the loss of the 'drug camaraderie' and the desperate circumstances that surround a junkie like Renton. In doing this, the film clearly transcends the viewer's comfort zone. There are disturbing images of a baby crawling in the seedy junkie flat among needles and f uck-ups, shots of McGregor literally swimming in a vast murky pool of faeces, McGregor getting high and having sex with a 14-year-old girl and gritty shots of violence. It is not for the faint of heart.
But its greatest accomplishment is not its graphic portrayal  although this part is certainly captivating  but the raw adrenaline-pumping energy that Boyle applies to several scenes in the film. Even when Renton is strapped down on the bed to quit heroin, descending further into nightmarish illusion and becoming increasingly apathetic about his condition, the film never tips over into despair; it never loses itself in darkness. The twinge of energy and the dark humour are always there; Trainspotting keeps the sparkle in the eye.
8 out of 10