Abstract
Trainspotting, the “best British film of the decade”, arrived on 23 February 1996. Such were the expectations of the film (1996) that the face of its narrator-hero Renton (Ewan McGregor) appeared that month on the front cover of two influential London-based film magazines, Premiere and Sight and Sound. One year after its release, the film stands as both a critical and commercial success. The total Box Office receipts for Ireland, at IR £800 000 in the first 3 months, were comparable to a major Hollywood blockbuster. The film was still being screened 10 months later in Dublin's north inner city, the heartland of Dublin's heroin epidemic. Given its subject-matter, it is important to examine both the film itself, and its points of contact with the realities of drug addiction. In this respect, three questions suggest themselves: is the film showing anything new (representation), is it doing anything new (technique), and what is the film saying (ideology)?
Highlights
Trainspotting, the "best British film of the decade", arrived on 23 February 1996
Drug-takers appear to be getting younger, as in Kids (1995). While all of these films portray the decline of their addicts, they locate that decline in the addiction itself, rather than in the individual
Their comeuppance is presented as grimly inevitable. Plots and devices such as these run the risk of losing credibility. theWhdeirreectTnerasisnspootftinigts bnraeraraktsor'snewclgariomusnd abisouitn heroin: he has made the difficult choice of heroin over the safety of a family, electrical tinopeners, fixed-rate mortgages etc. to experience the pleasure, which he describes as 1000 times better than the best orgasm
Summary
Trainspotting, the "best British film of the decade", arrived on 23 February 1996. Such were the expectations of the film (1996) that the face of its narrator-hero Renton {Ewan McGre gor) appeared that month on the front cover of two influential London-based film magazines, Premiere and Sight and Sound. It is important to examine both the film itself, and its points of contact with the realities of drug addiction. In this respect, three questions suggest themselves: is the film showing anything new (representation), is it doing anything new (technique), and what is the film saying (ideol ogy)?. Drug-takers (like policemen) appear to be getting younger, as in Kids (1995) While all of these films portray the decline of their addicts, they locate that decline in the addiction itself, rather than in the individual. Given the real risks of intravenous drug use, the film creates its own sense of unreality. This sits uncomfortably with the realities with which its audience are familiar. "Society's attempts to tackle the escalating drug problems by punishment and reduction in supplies of drugs have clearly failed, prompting high-ranking munetmhibnekrasble of abthoeut pleogliacleisataionnd". press to think the Greenwood (1996)
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