Review #790: 'Trainspotting' (1996)

Has Britain ever produced a film so influential on pop culture? Whether it be the stylish posters, portraying it's various colourful characters in a manner of poses, decorated with that eye-catching use of orange and white, the use of title cards at the beginning of the film introducing us to the line-up of junkies, thugs and pushers who inhabit the film, or that memorable soundtrack, which tapped into the underground rave culture of the 1990's, Trainspotting was the most iconic film since 1994's Pulp Fiction. But, an alarming 18 years on, does Trainspotting still maintain it's raw power and grimy hipness? The answer is yes, with a touch of no.

Most of the controversy surrounding the film at the time was it's unflinching, and some would say glamorous, portrayal of heroin addiction. The opening 15 minutes is a relentless, highly energetic introduction to the Edinburgh drug scene, where addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) informs us of the delights of heroin, a life choice for the characters in the film as opposed to the 2 point 4 children suburban life we're all meant to be striving for, where washing machines, dental insurance, and electric tin openers are necessities. Why does he prefer to spend time shooting drugs with a bunch of low-lives, sat in the squalor of a drug dealer's house? Who needs reasons when you've got heroin, Renton tells us.

But the style doesn't eclipse the substance. Director Danny Boyle, making his second film after the excellent Shallow Grave (1994), is wise enough to keep focus. Renton's life is fascinating and sometimes exciting to watch, but it doesn't make us want to move to a council estate in Edinburgh and spend time with these types of people. Renton's closest 'friends' include pimp Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), an expert in James Bond trivia; the speed-addled Spud (Ewen Bremner); the clean-cut, weight-lifting Tommy (Kevin McKidd); and the sovereign-wearing, utterly terrifying psychopath Begbie (Robert Carlyle). And with heroin, comes destruction. Boyle shows us an overdose beautifully scored to Lou Reed's 'Beautiful Day', and a truly ugly cold turkey scene.

But the film has becomes a victim of it's own stylish choices. Back in 1996, Trainspotting felt fresh, exciting, and slightly dangerous, but it's been ripped-off so many times in such a lazy and poor fashion that it has become slightly dated. Just three years ago, another Irvine Welsh adaptation, Ecstacy, adopted the same poster layout as this. Don't get me wrong, Trainspotting is still an excellent film, it has just lost some of it's youthful vigour and confrontational attitude that served it so well almost two decades ago. McGregor is excellent: a charming, charismatic, yet often repulsive narrator akin to Malcolm McDowell's Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange (1971), and his mug will no doubt decorate the walls of many a student house for years to come. Still one of the most important films to come out of Britain, just a slightly damaged one.


Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Peter Mullan
Country: UK

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #456: 'Brave' (2012)

Since the 1995 release of Toy Story, Pixar was the unbreakable house with its stream of hits catering for both children and adults. Now in its seventeenth year of feature film production, it seems that it is the house of Disney that is most effecting their cinematic output. This years Brave, continues the standard of breathtaking animation, but does not innovate in this field - as was usually expected. Unfortunately, whilst previous hits such as Finding Nemo (2003), Wall-E (2008), and Up (2009), brought inventive new animation tricks, they also brought to the screen some fundamentally beautiful innovations to animated storytelling. Not only did they manage to enthral and delight children, the studio managed to amuse and cater for the parents (and adults without children), in a manner that seemed more, well, adult.

Brave tells the traditional fairytale set in the Scottish highlands. A young, red-haired princess, Merida (Kelly MacDonald), is forced by tradition to be married off to a young man from another clan, something that will be determined with an archery contest. Merida, however, does not wish to be married off and argues with her mother, Quenn Elinor (Emma Thompson). Taking off on her steed, she encounters a witch in the woods (voiced by Julie Walters), and she collects a spell in the form of a cake, that will change her mother, so that she will not have to marry. Unfortunately, the cake changes her mother physically, and in the form of a bear, they must break the spell.

Whilst not groundbreaking in animation or storytelling, Brave does have heart. The plucky princess wants to break tradition, making it an interesting feminist concept within the context of children's entertainment. It also holds the strong message that age divisions should stop to listen to each others own wishes (here the mother-daughter relationship is strained due to this lack of communication). But unfortunately, the film seems simply to tread themes and story ideas that have been exhaustively explored by Disney's more traditional output, with slight modernisations. And this is the problem I have with this release. Perhaps it is due to the complete merger between Pixar and Disney that the more conventional stories will begin to be their output. I really hope that this is not to be the beginning of the demise of Pixar's genuine genius. But criticism of their latest releases may aid the studio in developing the kind of stories that bring in kids, and entertains the parents/adults also.

With some other great voice work though (Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd), the film is not a total failure, and will delight children. It does have some genuine laughs, particularly from Merida's younger triplet brothers, whose mischievousness brings some delectable comedy moments. Something other is also happening to cinema, and that is the influence of video games. Whilst Merida is "on her quest", she is often helped by willow-the-wisps (small illuminated apparitions), that direct her through forests to get to her destination. The unfortunate thing about this is that none of them sounded like Kenneth Williams - what a missed opportunity. Although, I guess they simply didn't know the reference. (Sad face).


Directed by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Voices: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy