Trainspotting (1996)

Trainspotting (1996)

Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting details the life of a group of heroin addicts in Scotland. (Well only three of the five characters on the poster above are heroin users and one sucessfully kicks it) It is not as some controversy has it, a movie that glamourises heroin use, rather the opposite. There is a very artfully shot overdose scene (set to the song "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed, who was also a heroin user) and one character in the movie (not naming who) actually dies, not from an overdose, but from consequences of becoming an addicted H user.

It is tempting to compare this with the other "great" heroin movie, Christiane F, but these are two completely different films, apart from the subject of heroin use. Christiane F, (which is on my viewing and reviewing list) is a docu-drama of sorts
, while Trainspotting, even though it has a graphic message, is more a comedy, though a very black one.

Watch Trainspotting. If you are a parent of young adults, watch it with them. If you aren't, watch it anyway.

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