Brilliant!

Rating: 10/10 (2 November 2000)

One of the most brilliant, funny and shocking movies I have ever seen. This brilliantly written movie shows the life of several junkies in a realistic yet incredibly dark humoristic way.
From the beginning until the end it grabs you and doesn't let go. Almost every scene could be a short movie on its own. The main character Rent is almost heroic despite the fact that he's junkie, who steals from his parents to support his drug habbit. The movie however does not glorify drug use, it gives a very grim picture of it. At some moments you actually feel like your on drugs yourself.
If you look at the various story lines you might conclude that it is a very sad picture that is being painted of people and life in general. And it is, it varies from drug abuse, betraying friends and family and death. However this is not the feeling that you are left with at the end of the movie. Because the themes are brought in such a sarcastic way that you can't help but see the humor in all of this.
As a viewer you are overwhelmed by the clever use of camera and also the music score, which guides you from sixties until today. A constant bombardement of clever dialogue, in extremely hard to follow scottish, makes this a movie that you have to see several times before you grasp all the little nuances.
A real must see for people who enjoy dark humor and a different look at life and who are bored with the usual hollywood no brainers!