One of my favorites

Rating: Null/10 (20 February 1999)

I saw this when my ship made a port call in Iceland (which is quite a feat). It remains, after having seen it a second time recently, one of the most powerful experiences I have had with a motion picture.
No doubt many have already spoken about what they liked about "Trainspotting": the dialogue, the rhythm of the photography and editing, Robert Carlyle's miraculous performance. Now, I'd like to say a few words about the soundtrack.
The music makes or breaks the film. The best films have had the best music. Legends, such as "Casablanca", "Citizen Kane", and "Gone With the Wind", have had equally legendary music and music scores. Hitchcock realized the fundamental importance of music as the augmentor of moods and emotions, in a countless number of his works. Martin Scorsese, the master of soundtrack selection, realized the same. Last year, two seperate films, "The Thin Red Line" and "Pi", worked extremely well thanks partly to their music scores from composers who couldn't be more different: Hans Zimmer and Massive Attack. Danny Boyle's music selection, with work from Brian Eno, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, is irreproachable. Each song serves a scene and aids in creating moods: fear, desperation, happiness, hopefulness, and depression. I particularly like "Lust For Life", which plays over the titles, and "A Perfect Day", for the sequence in which Renton overdoses and must be taken to the hospital. There are many things to like about this movie, and the soundtrack is one.