Danny Boyle: Interviews

Trainspotting: The Choice of a New Generation

26 Trainspotting: The Choice of a New Generation Keith Hopper/1996 From Film West, no. 24 (Spring 1996). Reprinted with permission. Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers . . . choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? (Trainspotting, opening monologue) Perhaps it’s a terminal dose of Omniplex Jaded Despair Syndrome which draws me to certain types of film. Last year it was Before Sunrise, Once Were Warriors, and Clerks; this year it’s La Haine and Trainspotting. Wildly diffuse, what these films have in common are the simple qualities of a tight cast, a vibrant narrative line, and an integrity of style and subject-matter. Most of all they’re all low-budget independents, and the nascent Irish film industry would do well to take note. Ironically, it’s because of their low-budget design that these films make their impact. They’re not in thrall to big studio accountants and therefore don’t have to pander to Lowest Common Denominator marketing strategies. In the realm of popular representation this has obvious social repercussions: in Hollywood homogeneity is synonymous with power, and bland is beautiful. Reality bites, all right, but it rarely wins Oscars. The lives we normally see on-screen are purely self-refer- keith hopper / 1996 27 ential; after all the telephone prefix 555 only exists in cinema space. ET phone home indeed. This is why indie filmmakers are vital to the survival of true cinema. Witness La Haine for example: after years of French flicks full of pretty architecture, languid dialogue, and listless love triangles, we suddenly get a language, a people, and a landscape we never knew existed—and with good reason. It caused such shockwaves in France that Alain Juppe ordered his cabinet to watch it. But indie films don’t have to be so overtly political to have political ramifications—the medium is still the message. Low-budget films have to be inventive out of financial necessity , and that’s their salvation and their power: they have to find new ways of telling new stories, speaking of lives that have rarely been spoken of. In this respect, and before Ireland embarks on its war-againstdrugs , John Bruton and his cabinet might usefully take a peek at Trainspotting . Those of you who saw Shallow Grave will know why Trainspotting has been so eagerly awaited. With a small cast (three and a half actors), an even smaller budget (£1m), and a single set, Shallow Grave almost single-handedly restored credibility to the ailing British film industry. Of course we had the anodyne feel-good fluff of Four Weddings and the solid costumed classiness of The Madness of King George as contenders, but Shallow Grave was that special kind of cine animal: genuinely independent , stylishly idiosyncratic, darkly comic—a hybrid extravaganza which was thrilling and thoughtful. In short, a cult flick which entered (and altered) the mainstream consciousness. The crucial thing about Shallow Grave was its tight, collaborative production values. On a minuscule budget it had to cut conventional corners, developing in the process a stylized short-hand and a distinct grammar. The script, direction, acting, set design, and camera all adhered to this grammar, creating an intense and consistent mood reminiscent of classic film noir. For Trainspotting the same crew—and some of the same actors—resurrect this style, but to wildly different ends. Whereas Shallow Grave was a plot-driven thriller about the moral dilemma facing a group of heartless yuppies, Trainspotting is an episodic character study of a group of unrepentant junkies, drifting chaotically on the fringes of consumer culture. Adapted from Irvine Welsh’s cult novel, Trainspotting takes some bold but necessary liberties with the original text. The main difference 28 danny boyle: inter views is the film’s focus on the character of Mark Renton, who becomes both the central protagonist and the film’s narrator. Renton is a...