whew .
this film oozes energy , the kind of breakneck ,
no-
holds - barred , in - your - face risk - taking filmmaking that is seldom seen on screen these days .
like the marginal , motley bunch of post - apocalyptic youths director danny boyle tries to depict , trainspotting veers on the edge of utter mayhem but ultimately retains its footing and control . the result : a movie that is a delightful example of how the medium is the message .
the message : a bunch of losers with loser names , mark renton ( ewan mcgregor ) , spud ( ewan bremner ) , sick boy ( jonny lee miller ) , tommy ( kevin mckidd ) , and begbie ( robert carlyle ) .
bored , aimless and restless , their routine consists of getting drunk at the local pub , grooving to techno or glam - rock at the local disco and getting shots up the arm at the local den and procuring cash through a variety of methods , some ingenious , others plainly dumb and desperate .
not part of the daily dose if obtained , sex is a bonus .
you can find these characters as they are , foul - mouthed , dirty , pathetic , ugly perhaps but definitely interesting , in irvin welsh 's cult novel of the same name .
what makes the film a completely different experience is how director boyle uses every tool at his disposal to make the filmic medium synchronous with the message .
one of the first things you 'll notice is how the camera seems to dart around restlessly .
it 'll truck into a character 's pimple , just as soon as it will dolly out to an establishing shot .
distracted and curious , it 'll maintain a character 's eye - level or drop right to the ground to show the doped - out - eye - view .
you 'll even find characters peering into the camera , their faces smeared across the wide - angle lens .
this film camera is just another one of the guys .
tiptoeing that indistinguishable line between fantasy and reality , boyle employs a healthy dose of surrealism to get the message across .
bored kids daydream and bored kids deprived of a heroin fix have nightmares .
i do n't want to give too much away , but if you cross chuckie from child 's play with some of the wacky fantasies in heavenly creatures , you might have an idea
just how fun or pants - wetting scary the alternate state of consciouness can be .
that said , this film has a good share of drugs - consumed , vomitted , defecated , pissed off , exchanged , bought , sold , injected , smuggled , enjoyed and regretted .
if that is n't your cup of tea , nobody forced you to see the film .
stay at home and rent up close and personal .
and what 's a buzz without tunes .
from pulp to iggy pop ( yes , he 's still alive ) ,
the aural landscape is as engaging as the visual energy permeating
the film .
good and bad vibrations tangle like the conflicting desires and values of the message .
every once in a while , a film comes along with the kind of energetic filmmaking that matches the intensity of its characters it hopes to depict .
trainspotting is that shooting star that burns across a sky littered with static constellations .
dom is a part - time filmmaker who graduated from northwestern university 's radio / tv / film programme not too long ago .
he has laboured on various music videos and short films in and around campus and chicago .
nowhere town , a 26min short film that he shot , co - directed and co - produced recently scooped up the grand jury prize at the charleston international film festival for best student production .
he is currently finishing a couple of small projects .
with his minute amounts of leisure time , dom does nell impersonations .
with the kind of energetic filmmaking that matches the intensity of its characters it hopes to depict employs a healthy dose what makes the film a completely different experience this film oozes energy the aural landscape is as engaging as the visual energy permeating just how fun or pants - wetting scary the alternate state of consciouness can be a delightful example risk - taking filmmaking that is seldom seen on screen shooting star ultimately retains its footing and control