T2 Trainspotting

Dir: Danny Boyle

2017

*****

There are quite a few films I can think of off the top of my head that I'd like to see a sequel to but would never expect one. However, I can think of more films whereby I loved the film so much that a sequel could spoil a treasured memory, some stories should be left where they were intended. Sometimes it works, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted (the follow up to Once Were Warriors) being a good example. The original was so good it really didn't require a re-visit but it was nice to see how the characters were doing after investing so much emotion in them. Half of me would like to see another film, because with good writing and passion, a story can go on forever. Look at Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight. I never thought a sequel was possible or a good idea, I certainly didn't think they'd get away with it for a third time but they did. Trainspotting was a huge iconic film of the 90s, the first film that my generation could really claim as their own. I resisted it initially, as all kids do when they're told something is cool, but over the years I've come to cherish it. I have never been a heroin addict but the social commentary, the way life was at that time, the music, art and creativity etc was a big part of my life, the 'Choose life' monologue had a huge effect on many of us and it's a bit of a generational mantra. Did I want to revisit this though? Failed sequels have never upset me too much, I had strong issues with The Force Awakens but I got over it, Star Wars is everybody's anyway and there were parts I enjoyed. Similarly, Jurassic World pissed me off but only because I have very fond memories of watching the first film with my best mate the day before it was officially released, which is still my favourite cinema visit to date. We saw Jurassic World together again (we had probably only been to the cinema together a handful of times since Jurassic Park) and couldn't believe how much the updated film had copied everything from the first. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that, but this was a horrible cash-in, that was all about the brand and product placement, rather than a creative adventure sci-fi story featuring dinosaurs. Many of our favourite bands, who split in the late 90s or early 00s have got back together and while many of them are great to hear again, a few are nothing more than a painful memory that certain things will never be the same or as good as they once were. Some even make you question whether they were any good in the first place. Nostalgia is a funny thing, it can be a warm blanket on a cold day but it can also hold you back from progression. I wish I wasn't so nostalgic sometimes but I'd be kidding myself if I thought I could ever kick the habit. Nostalgia is my heroin, T2 Trainspotting could have been the dirty bag of scag that could have ruined everything, luckily for me, it was the hit in the arm I never thought possible. I'm going to leave the questionable heroin references there, mostly because T2 really isn't about heroin, it is about so much more. As we visit each character from the first film, we explore various aspects of regret and redemption, a continuation of addiction and a study on life-long friendship. To be honest, it took me a while to get back on board. It didn't seem to be going anywhere and it felt incredibly predictable. I wasn't seeing the visual flare of the first film either, it just didn't seem to be coming together. An early scene sees Renton take out a record in his old room and the first second of Iggy Pop's Lust for Life, the first film's theme tune in many respects, plays before he quickly takes the needle away, clearly not ready to revisit old memories. I thought it was an over-obvious scene that added nothing, other than be a message that the film wouldn't tread familiar ground, even though it clearly had. It was the film's first proper funny scene that finally reeled me in. The set up looked horrible, it takes place in a working man's club and Renton and Sick-boy find themselves having to take part in an impromptu performance of karaoke. I could barely watch and then something magical happened. The film slapped me across the face, it's a black comedy, the characters once again revealed themselves authentically, in came the visual flare and Danny Boyle whipped away the table-cloth with the contents of the table remaining still and intact. I think the trailer fooled a lot of people and to great effect. It is what it was supposed to be, a very realistic approach to a cherished group of characters. It embraces nostalgia and gives it a big warm hug and then pushes it away and kicks it in the balls, before embracing it once again. The elephants in the room are dealt with accordingly, the joyously tender moments being brilliantly balanced with gut-punching home truths. Beauty and ugliness really do fight it out like old friends after too much drink. Every element that made the first film is present in the second, some not always obvious and others loud and unapologetic. The 'Choose life' monologue is updated beautifully, the soundtrack is updated and is the equivalent to what the original was back in 1996 (I bought it straight away). The very last scene made me incredibly happy and really brought the whole thing together. Me and my wife danced in the aisle during the end credits, I was elevated, felt full of beans and had a million and one ideas all at once. My life is very different to what it was in 1996 but I suddenly felt twenty years younger, twenty years younger with twenty years of experience under my belt, invigorated and immensely happy and looking forward to the next twenty years. I danced like I didn't care, just like I did all those years ago. Now that is how you make a sequel. 

Trainspotting

Dir: Danny Boyle

1996

*****

I was in Art College in 1996 when Danny Boyle's cult adaptation of Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel was released. I remember being surrounded by rather annoying people (posh art students like myself) who hadn't read the book but seemed to immerse themselves in the culture that the story was about. The poster was iconic, the soundtrack was the soundtrack of the summer of 1996 and the film was quoted to the point where I was fed up to the back teeth of hearing about it. The film was misunderstood by those around me who thought that drug culture was somehow desirable and cool and I'm afraid it had something of an effect. I totally avoided the film, had no interest in it and didn't feel I was missing out. Friends would ask if my girlfriend at the time and I were going off for 'casual sex', they would re-enact the scene where the boys were asked what they were talking about (football) and the girls were asked what they were talking about (shopping), when both were talking about each other, and being called a biscuit-erse by a posh south-west London law student is indescribably irritating, especially when it's every day for a year. I secretly watched it about a year later and although I tried to resist, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've watched it once every few years since it was made and each time I feel slightly different about it, although I enjoy it more with every watch. I'm an extremely nostalgic person and the music alone triggers happy memories for me but it is amazing how much of an influence the film has been and how iconic it has become. It's amazing how everything about the film has become iconic too, from the artwork, music and the snappy direction of the film. Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave gave us something a bit new and Trainspotting was his opportunity to exercise what he'd learned and do what he thought he could get away with.  Producer Andrew McDonald worked with Miramax in selling the film to the American audience as a 'British Pulp Fiction' which clearly worked although it was a lazy comparison. Everything vaguely edgy during the 90s was described as the 'new Tarantino' which was really unfair on talented and creative directors such as Boyle. Trainspotting is remarkable in that every scene, and I do mean every scene, is memorable. I can forget scenes from all of my favourite films but Trainspotting is somehow in-bedded in my memory and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I've used the same word several times now but the term 'iconic' is the best way to describe Trainspotting all these years later. You know a film is doing something right by the amount of people who gathered to discredit it, without knowing what it was about and in a famous few cases, judging without even seeing it. It doesn't glamorize drug taking or addiction, quite the opposite, it shows what a destructive force it can be and the selfish monster it can turn you into. The ending may seem like a happy one but actually, it's a very self-centred and quite ugly conclusion, and beautifully so. The 'choice life' script was often quoted and somewhat overused but it really did make people of that generation think about things; life, consumerism, the future, independence and opportunity, and an overwhelming realization that you can buck trends without killing yourself. It is the quintessential film of my generation in many respects, and I have no problem with that.