The Movie Trainspotting And The Effect Of Abuse

The film Trainspotting is a Scottish film from 1996 directed by Danny Boyle: a milestone in European filmmaking that recently received a sequel, T2: Trainspotting. The truth is that it’s hard to forget its iconic characters, their special reflections on life and the shady world in which they moved. Trainspotting is not a movie for everyone, nor does it try to be. The film is deeply dramatic, but also comical in its blackest sense.

Trainspotting is something completely different from most things in film. It is the portrait of a society that became addicted to drugs, especially with an emphasis on heroin. And it takes us there with the help of some in its own way philosophical senses from the twentieth century who chose to live on the fringes of society and whose only thought was about becoming high. All this may sound a little uncomfortable, but when we see the film we will discover a whole new and fascinating universe. We will discover views that have seldom before been dealt with in such a deep way on the screen.

A work of art from the 20th century

The film Trainspotting is aggressive, direct and sarcastic. The characters are really well written and the scenes are very varied. The film presents, among other things, the streets of Edinburgh, the worst bathroom in Scotland, a bad strainer with the legendary Lou Reed song Perfect Day in the background, a staggering scene with a baby and much more.

It is without a doubt an unforgettable film that deals with the subject in a very open way, albeit with metaphors for much of the time. It is also lifted by one of the best film soundtracks of its time and is a real work of art from the twentieth century.

The philosophy of the movie Trainspotting

The film focuses mainly on four characters, each with very different motivations and perspectives on life:

• Renton: main character, a young heroin addict who one day decides to stop using heroin.
• Spud : Renton’s friend, is probably the most “skewed” character in the film and demonstrates more than anyone else a mixed addiction completely without attempts at self-control. He is characterized as the typical stupid “pound”. But at the same time, Spud is not at all malicious, and is the only one who can really be called a friend.
• Sick Boy : is another of Renton’s friends, although his loyalty is highly questionable. After learning that Renton is considering giving up drugs, he decides to do the same just to annoy his friend with how easy it is. He is a film fanatic and does not seem to have any morals in him at all.

• Begbie : is the oldest in the group, but can also be seen as the most disturbed. He does not use any types of illegal drugs, but exhibits very violent behavior, something that can be an addiction in itself. He lives with the others because he is on the run from the police. The others are terrified of him and he acts as a kind of leader.

An ordinary life

The kind of life most of us have is shown here to us as a kind of slavery. A life where we work only to be able to afford to pay the bills, have a big TV, get a partner, have friends and a job. Everything seems to be based on choices, but they are only limited choices that fit into the established, accepted social patterns. What happens to those who do not want to choose these things? They choose to live completely outside the system.

The movie Trainspotting and the consequences of addiction

For Renton, it is not at all easy to choose a life and follow the social model; in fact, it is boring and empty. It is because of this that he chose to become addicted, and in this way his only concern in life became being able to fix enough money to get his drug. Trainspotting brings us closer to a different outlook on life. It takes us close to an addict’s point of view. Renton himself explains that his choice is very simple. It is exclusively for pleasure and nothing else. Of course, he knows that the consequences of his addiction will only get worse, and he knows what risk he is taking to enter that world. He knows all this and still chooses to surround himself with this world.

All this is a kind of contemporary hedonism, a life beyond all that is accepted. A life where happiness and the purpose of life are summed up in one word: pleasure. And the search for the absolute pleasure is by taking drugs.

Another perspective on life

Despite this pursuit of pure pleasure, Renton explains that all, or almost all, addicts have at some point made the decision to get away from drugs, return to the real world, and start a “normal” life again. There is a bathroom scene in the movie that is crucial to understanding this decision. It’s a kind of portrait of Renton’s life. It is an extremely unpleasant scene, but very complex at the same time. The bathroom is really a reflection of his life and his relationship with heroin.

Trainspotting gives us a different perspective on life and explains the background to this choice. For these characters, the real world is synonymous with slavery and misfortune. What they do next is to decide to flee from that reality and immerse themselves in a new mental state. they flee to another way of life that comes as a direct reaction to the social system.

The movie Trainspotting and Addiction

Trainspotting introduces us to the reality of a drug addict’s life. To an underworld that we may never have seen before, but that really exists. The film is not a tribute to drugs, but rather the portrait of a generation and the consequences that addiction has had on it. Heroin was a kind of epidemic in the late twentieth century. As a result, many young people became addicted, it controlled and destroyed countless lives, not only directly, but also because it led to the spread of diseases such as HIV. All of this, along with the character’s philosophical reflections, is the CEO we get to see in the movie Trainspotting.

Trainspotting is Renton’s journey. An addict’s journey. From the ecstasy and the initial euphoria, to misery and then a plunge into the depths of despair. In the middle of his story, Renton comes in contact with Diane, a young teenager with whom he begins a relationship. This girl, even though she’s so young, is starting to act as a kind of conscience for Renton. She becomes the one who provides his life with a useful perspective on reality. She makes him see that the world is changing, that the music he listens to is no longer modern and that there are other possibilities outside of drugs.

The changing world of drugs

Our world is evolving rapidly. Everything around us is changing. But in the world that Renton and his friends live in, time seems to have stood still. They live unaware of everything around them and the things that are going on. All these changes are also happening in the drug world. By the end of the twentieth century, the main drug in Scotland was heroin, later other drugs such as cocaine began to gain increasing popularity. Diane has already warned Renton about this, and we see this very well in the sequel, T2: Trainspotting .

Trainspotting also brings us closer to the difficulties of detoxification. Renton has carefully prepared everything to manage the withdrawal symptoms as best he can. He locks himself in with a whole arsenal of “ignition products”, including valium, porn magazines and canned soup. Renton says that he got hold of valium thanks to his mother, who “in his own socially acceptable way” is also a drug addict. In this way, he sends criticism to those who use drugs within the framework of the law. Drugs as antidepressants or sedatives.

Conclusion

Trainspotting dives into the perspective of those who are addicted to drugs in a very bold way and leaves nothing unsaid. From the first contact, to pure addiction, detoxification, and then relapse and an almost poetically placed contaminated dose. With the help of a very unpleasant subject, Danny Boyle manages to create a fascinating film. It allows us to understand a reality that is probably completely foreign to most of us.