Trainspotting

Trainspotting was a film directed by Danny Boyle along with his other films like the award winning Slumdog Millionaire and the 2010 film 127 Hours. The film was based on a novel written by Irvine Welsh but the screenplay itself was written by John Hodge. It was produced by Andrew Macdonald.

(From top to bottom, left to right) Ewan McGregor,

Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd,
and Robert Carlyle

The lead characters were Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy, and Begbie. They were played by Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, and Robert Carlyle, respectively. Mark Renton was the protagonist of the film. He and his friends were all heroin addicts. Their drug consumption made them suffer in the circumstances they experienced such as the death of Allison and Sick Boy’s baby, the imprisonment of Spud, and even the death of Tommy. However, in the end, Renton decided to live a stable and traditional life.

The camera angles used in the film were mostly point-of-view shots. There were scenes like when Renton fell on the ground and the camera showed what Renton was seeing as he fell on the floor. Dolly shots or also known as tracking or trucking shots were also used in the film. In the opening scene where Renton and Spud are running away from the security guards, dolly shots were used as the camera followed the two characters.

On the other hand, even if the film showed violence and drug addiction, there was still a moral lesson that was shown in the film. The bad effects of drugs in the body were shown in the film. With this, the audience will be aware of the consequences when they try using drugs. Friends’ bad influence was also shown. There was a scene in the film when Renton was already in sobriety over heroin and his friends, Begbie and Sick Boy, insisted in giving him another shot again. This seemed to tell the audience that if they know that they are right, they should make a stand even if it means losing their friends. However, the main lesson that the film implied was the presence of chance. If you failed and fell again and again, there is always a chance to get up and change whatever is wrong in your life. Start again and live righteously.

References: Wikipedia, IMDb