Summary: The film Trainspotting begins with Renton and Spud running through the streets being chased. A voice over begins with the litany of consumer based society- decisions that cause people to make decisions and ultimately can be stressful. We then see Renton lying on the floor, high on heroin. He says he doesn’t have to make any of those decisions- the only choice he makes is heroin. We then see a few friends in a dilapidated house with very little furniture about to shoot up on a filthy floor with a baby playing in the next room. Renton tries to quit heroin and better himself. Spud quits with him just to spite him and show him how easily he can do it. They then take speed and go to a job interview. Spud’s interview obviously didn’t go well because he was high. It then goes on to show the friends at a bar. Begbie has a sociopathic, violent outbreak there. While at the bar, Renton gets a sex craving because he has his drive back that heroin had robbed from him. He then meets an underage girl named Diane that blackmails him. This causes him to use again.
Shortly after, the baby is found dead. Allison takes a hit first thing after learning of her baby’s death. The friends then commit various petty crimes such as theft to fuel their addiction. This lands Spud in jail for six months. Renton, however, was let off because he was enrolled in a treatment plan for his heroin use that included Methadone. Although, for Renton the Methadone was not enough and he relapsed once again, this time almost dying from an overdose. It was then that his parents forced Renton to go through withdrawal without any medical supervision as well as get tested for HIV, for which he tested negative. Tommy, however, was now addicted to heroin and HIV positive.
Renton again tries to better himself. He cut himself off from his friends and got a job as a real estate agent. In a letter from Diane, he learns that his friends are still into drugs and are getting in trouble with the law. Just as he was getting to enjoy his clean and sober life, Begbie, hiding from the police for an armed robbery, and Sick Boy, now a pimp and drug dealer, move in with him. They begin to mooch off of Renton and sell his things to make money. His friends’ antics ended up costing Renton his real estate job. After being fired, they all return to Scotland for Tommy’s funeral.
After the funeral, the friends tell Renton about their plan to resell heroin. They need to borrow money from him because they are about $2,000 short of the $4,000 goal. He agrees, only to find out they need someone to test the drug to make sure it is pure and a quality product. Unfortunately, he has to break his sober streak, but the friends end up selling their product for $16,000. Renton ends up sticking the friends and running off with the $16,000. After this, he vows to clean himself up and “choose life”—something he did not want to choose in the beginning of the film.
My reaction: When the film opens and the voice over begins, Renton talks about all of the stresses the people face in daily life. He says He says “I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?” Unfortunately, stresses and life problems are main reasons why people choose drugs in the first place. The film does a good job at depicting the world of a heroin user. We see what they feel are the “high points” of use, such as pleasure, and also the lowest of lows that they face in their struggle with addiction, such as ruined relationships and death. The baby that is neglected throughout scenes of the movie was the most heartbreaking for me, but that is the reality of drug culture. The film also shows the burdens of the family and how they are involved with drug use, which is typical in addiction. In the film, none of the addicts can trust any of the others. They all continue their moral decline and one ends up dying. Unfortunately, Renton was the
