Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead...

Rating: 9/10 (30 September 2016)

This is from "Barfly" which is to alcohol what "Trainspotting" is to heroin. This would make a helluva tag-line for the British cult-classic, but I'm not sure the feeling would last. Sepaking for myself, the worst toilet of Scotland is such a nightmarish vision it cured me from any temptation. Yes, I would keep my horrible life if it could spare me the use of laxative suppositories (I'm the type to cover the bowl with toilet paper before sitting).
Being less than a decade younger than most of the cast, I can say the word 'drug' belonged to my dictionary since childhood, I didn't know exactly what drugs were but that was the point, I wasn't even supposed to try to know. Even my favorite kids' magazine dared to employ the S-word to describe drugs. It came to the point that I avoided cigarettes like the plague because I thought the first one magically started the addiction. Well, it wasn't far from truth either but I wouldn't have tried to check if this also stood for drugs, well, not heroin anyway. That's just to say heroin (or cocaine) is the ultimate interrogation mark and I owe most the answers to movies. I guess "Trainspotting" stands in the Top 3 behind "Requiem for a Dream" and "Panic in Needle Park".
Things I learned about heroin from movies: there are two feelings when you're into them, one that transcends your highest perceptions of orgasm, and when the effect is over, the need for more drugs. Dependence and pleasure, that's the cycle of addiction. And having stopped smoking two years ago, I know how it feels to be dependent, you only wait for the next cigarette and everything is structured around drugs, in fact around addiction. And this is what Danny Boyle's directorial debut is about, the structuring effect of drugs in one's life and the alienating effect from the others' lives. The film sets the tone with its opening sequence featuring the three protagonists running in Edinburgh streets, why and where they run to isn't significant, it's all in Ewan McGregor's speech.
The opening monologue could have been delivered by Tyler Durden in "Fight Club", an ode to anarchic freedom devoid of greedy impulses, the independence from the diktat of fashion, consumption or the whole baloney about having a regular life, family, kids etc. The merit of this scene is double: it has the honesty to say that once you're in drugs, you don't really care for the norm, in fact, you can't care. The second is to grab the viewer from the collar and take him into this journey with a promising and catchy soundtrack that made the film one of the most emblematic of the 90's (hell, they even included Dance Music), the whole things feels exhilarating, cool and young. And you know what this immersion reminded me of? Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas".
This is the kind of film that plunges you into an underworld with its codes, habits, or lack of, and the way their members look at the rest of the world, girls, family, law, and by the magic of the screen, make their lifestyle look almost (I say almost) appealing. Of course, organized crime has a slight edge what's with all the money, cars, suits, but in "Trainspotting", there's this dilettante quality, this detachment combined with a camaraderie between those 'who know'. We wouldn't want to try, but if there ever was another way to get an idea of what their lives feel like, we would. That's the mark of great films: to make you part of an experience, following protagonists from start to finish and see what lessons they or you learned.
And "Trainspotting" benefited from a an A-list of unforgettable characters, who complete each other perfectly. Mark (Ewan McGregor) is the guy under the influence, oscillating between heroin and Diane, his heroin so to speak (Kelly McDonald's debut), he talks so many times about quitting that we stopped taking his motivation as a serious factor. Spud (Ewen Bremner) is the goofiest of the bunch but also the nicest, he also tries to settle down and find a job but I'm not sure I'd try an interview under the effect of speed. Tommy (Kevin McKidd) is the clean guy with a weird habit to shoot himself while banging his girlfriend and by shooting I mean with a cam, only once he'll try with a needle, and it will be one time too many (Karma is the bitchiest of all). And there's Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) who talks about Sean Connery and overrated awards movies like a legitimate IMDb user.
And in the obligatory anger management department, Begbie (Robert Carlisle) pulls a Tommy De Vito in every single scene he is. Whenever you watch his pretty head, you know there's trouble coming. This is "Trainspotting" in a nutshell, it doesn't make drug look cool, like "Goodfellas", there's a moment where everything falls but it asks more questions than it provides answers. Speaking for myself (well it's a personal review what did you expect?), I spend so much time on IMDb, I love chatting about movies, sharing stuff with fellow movie geeks and reviewing that I wonder if it's not an addiction.
Indeed, I review whatever I see, and right now, I should be watching a film, but I've got to finish this review before, and tomorrow, I'll start the film after the review of "Trainspotting" etc., IMDb won't have the same effect as heroin, but after these years, I can say IMDb won and structured my life. This is why you can't expect a 'total victory' in "Trainspotting", only a series of new beginnings, new cycles and maybe this is the secret of its enduring appeal, when you finish it, you wouldn't mind watching it again, in case you missed something.