Many films deal with drugs. Among those, there are - Scarface, The Godfather, Revolver and so on. This theme is popular in Anglo-Saxon cinema. Trainspotting directed by Danny Boyle is a film which deals with drugs in a blunt way. A group of friends, in the nineties, in Edinburgh, are only interested in sex and drugs above all. At some point, one of them – Renton, the main character (voice-over commentary) – tries to get out of it. Indeed, as the film unfolds, they do away with themselves, but eventually, Renton chooses life, leaving his friends because they have become too intrusive. We will see that Trainspotting reflects and refers to English society (and government) of that period.
Originally, Trainspotting is an autobiographical novel written by Irvine Welsh, in 1993. Indeed, Renton is like Irvine Welsh, when he was younger, Irvine was a drug-addict (ecstasy, which wrote about it in a novel called Ecstasy in 1996) an alcoholic, and spent his time between Edinburgh and London (like Renton who works in London, or goes to London with his friends to sell drugs). Moreover, at some point, Welsh worked as an estate agent (like Renton). So, we can say that Renton is Welsh's fictional counterpart. He flees his despair and drug addiction, in England, in the United States, and he ends up stopping drugs. In addition, Welsh plays the part of a dealer whose name is Mikey in the film. This novel was adapted, first, for theatre, in England (1994), in which we find Ewen Bremner (who plays the part of “Spud” in the film), and in France (1996). Then, it was put on screen by Danny Boyle in 1995. Trainspotting was a popular film, it's the second most successful film in Great Britain after Four Weddings and a Funeral. It received many rewards, among which The British Award granted to John Hodge for the screenplay.
[...] Besides, Trainspotting designates people who look at trains (At the beginning of the film, when the title appears on screen, we hear a train noise), and note their number, but it also means people who have an obsessional behavior, and here, heroin is the obsession. The word “trainspotting” refers to the different scars on junkies' arm caused by syringe prick like stations on railway line. Renton rejects society, and shapes his own identity, his own life, his own story, because he is rejected by it. [...]
[...] A rich person can buy a car, a television, go on holidays, but a poor person can not buy all he wants, and sometimes, he has got money only to put some food on the table. So, there is a gap between the consumer society in which we live, and a social reality. In England particularly the society is divided, there are the poor and the rich, and so, not everybody can buy each product on the market. And, in fact, we feel that Renton dreams of having access to some products. [...]
[...] These films are: Shallow grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996), A life less ordinary (1997). Ewan Mc Gregor is the lead actor of these films which makes him very popular. Then, Danny Boyle directs some shorts films, and The Beach (1999) days later (2002), Millions dealing with greed. So, we note in his films, Boyle very often keeps the same actors - as Ewan Mc Gregor who acts in the or Christopher Eccleston, who acts in Shallow grave, and in 28 days later and he works with John Hodge The Beach) and Andrew Mc Donald days later). [...]
[...] The suspension of your sentence is conditional on your continued co- operation with the program”, so it does not encourage him to detoxify; his parents do that. Perhaps, it is because, you have to pay to detoxify someone . The first time Renton decides himself to stop taking drugs, is when the child dies; he realizes that heroin addiction is dangerous, and unhealthy. But, if he wants to get out of it, he has to move away from his intrusive and parasite friends, because when he is with them, he is tempted to fall off the wagon. [...]
[...] I'm going to be just like so get back to normal. He stops rejecting society, and he wants to merge with it, to belong in it, to lead a normal life. When you are in normality, it is to enter in society (Renton stops taking drugs and finds a job). So, as we see, this society does not try to help poor and “different” people, and neglect them. On the one hand, we can say that junkies are marginalized by society, but they marginalized themselves. [...]
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