Money is the power god of heroin

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 1999)

Of course "Trainspotting" is a disturbing film. It is also gross and disgusting, as though Larry Flynt had gotten his hands on something like "A Clockwork Orange." But this Brit production with the heavy Scottish brogue is fortunately more than that; it is original and clever and moves right along. This is partly a cult film with all sorts of indie shibboleths and counter-cultural references; and partly an art film, with splashy sets and studied camera work; but mostly this is a full-blown commercial seduction of contemporary youth, worthy of the talent of somebody at, say, Sony or Pepsi or even the WB.
The opening theme (actually voiced over) is the idea that heroin or any really demanding addiction is preferable to ordinary life, an intriguing but stale notion designed to shock the bourgeoisie. The central theme proclaims that a heroin addict is just another kind of junkie, along with your cigarette, cola, beer, sex, grease, etc. junkies. (Bingo!) Yet at the end we see, as one might discover by watching PBS, that money will out. Kinda reminds me of what Omar Khayyam asked about wine nine hundred years ago: "I wonder...what the Vintners buy/One half so precious as the stuff they sell."
Here the answer is clear: money itself. Closing theme: money triumphs over heroin; money is the power god of heroin.
I guess something like that is the commercially correct "message" of this film.
Ewan McGregor is excellent in the leading role as a junkie who is as cute as your brother, with fine support by Robert Carlyle, who plays a bantam who likes to cut people. The script by John Hodge is partly unintelligible, which is good; and the direction by Danny Boyle combines cartoon fantasy with stark realism, slick horror with black comedy, in a manner sure to be imitated. The sound track, "available on Capitol Records," (I rest my case) will sell. Some might say that this is a penetrating critique of modern urban society, but the only thing being penetrated is your pocket book.
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