Home » Feature » Events and TV
‘Trainspotting’ not usual junkie flick
Print Edition
DANNY Boyle directed the opening ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games and the feel-good flick “Slumdog Millionaire” — but before that, he directed “Trainspotting,” a film about heroin use. His work is quite different, but what is consistent is Boyle’s brilliant use of story to dictate the style of his project at hand.
For “Trainspotting,” Boyle utilizes a mix of squalor and surrealism to convey the concrete realities and malleable unreality of a drugged state. It more than compensates for its low budget with a dizzying array of camera lenses, Dutch angles and quick edits. Taking drugs isn’t necessary to appreciate this movie because it conveys a non-sober perspective very well.
This can be horrifying, such as when McGregor imagines a dead baby crawling on the ceiling, but there’s also a romanticism to it. Like when a magical-realist describes a horrifying dragon. Who wouldn’t want to see a giant lizard fly?
It’s a daring move. Other movies that chronicle heroin addiction, such as the early Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle “Basketball Diaries” or the Jared Leto movie “Requiem for a Dream,” take great pains to show how nasty it is. “Trainspotting” takes a more subtle approach that is more satisfying.
“Trainspotting” is explicit: For the characters, the destructive use of heroin is the greatest feeling in the world. This is a daring — and troubling — thing to express. But it creates a true conflict of interest instead of the usual downward spiral narrative.
Venue: The Pearl, 471 Zhapu Rd
When: Tomorrow, 9pm
Admission: Free
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
