Released in 1996 and directed by Academy Award-winning Danny Boyle, Trainspotting tells the story of Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), a young man with an addiction to heroin. Although it is a movie about drugs, unlike many films, it doesn't unilaterally condemn drug use.
The toilet scene is the thematic focal point of the film, the scene features a wide establishing shot of the toilets where the mise-en-scene reveals to the audience how filthy the setting is, with the walls, floor, and even sinks being covered in fescues. Editing is used to add text over a close up shot of the door to emphasise the exaggerated fact that Renton has, in desperation, entered ‘The Worst Toilet in Scotland’ – showing how being drugs can lead him to the lowest of the lows and put himself in situations that most people would never put themselves through. Most of the camera shots are taken at a low angle, further showing that Renton has reached and all time low at this point, low camera angles are used notably throughout the movie whenever the characters are on drugs. There is however a high camera angle used at one point in the cubicle where the camera looks down upon Renton, which to me felt representative of the breach of privacy of looking over the cubicle of a toilet, but also of how people in society looked down on drug users and other members of the Under Class. Renton fishing the opium suppositories out of the toilet is representative of the grotesque, degrading and dehumanising effects of heroin addiction. But once submerged he is exposed to the other side of drug use: serenity, beauty and nirvana. Interestingly this point also closely resembles the cover of the Nirvana album ‘Nevermind’, where the baby is submerged in water reaching for money, and so Danny Boyle uses this connection to connote youth and how unhealthy ambition can lead them to reaching for destructive things in life. Additionally, the characters are often stages as if they were on an album cover, eg. The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' - highlighting the so-called 'rock and roll' aspect of drug addiction, music is also used to this effect at points of the soundtrack, for example Iggy Pop is widely known for his own drug addictions. The director presents this scene using hyper realism as it has a stronger emotional impact, and it is important to show the more ‘positive’ side of taking drugs in order to understand why the characters in the film would do such a harmful and reckless thing reiterating the point that Renton makes in the opening sequence of the film -"What they forget, is the pleasure of it, otherwise we wouldn't do it".
Another keys sequence is when Mark's parents force him to go 'cold turkey' after his overdose. The scene communicates so much to the viewer with so little dialogue. It follows the scene where he overdoses, which utilizes music perfectly as Boyle uses Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” a song etched with irony as the somber tone doesn’t match the rather the nostalgic and sometimes menacing lyrics. This scene is important because for the first time, we see some genuine regret from Renton for his actions and is a greatly truthful portrayal of drug withdrawal. The scene begins with a mid-shot of Renton’s father carrying him into his bedroom. This is the first in a series of actions carefully planned by Boyle to portray Renton as helpless as a young child. We hear the non-diegetic sound of “Perfect Day” in the background, which is just a carryover from the previous scene, and it quickly fades to represent how Marc is transitioning into the next phase of drug detox. His father removes his shoes while his mother removes his jacket and unbuttons his shirt, again reinforcing just how vulnerable he is at this point. His mother then tucks him in, continuing with the theme of depicting Renton as a child. The mise-en-scene perpetuates the theme as the wallpaper in the room is of trains, something that most would associate with a child but also of course links to the title of the film 'Trainspotting – this alone is important in understanding the film's message on drug addiction as the title is a reference to an episode from the Irvine Welsh novel where Begbie (Robert Carlyle) and Renton meet "an auld drunkard" in the disused Leith Central railway station, where they mean to use a toilet. The drunkard asks them (in a weak attempt at a joke) if they are "trainspottin." Welsh has explained that, when he was growing up in Edinburgh, there was an abandoned train station that had become a place frequented by the homeless and drug addicts. When the drug addicts were going to the station to take drugs, they would often say that they were going "Trainspotting". According to director Danny Boyle, "Through the late '80s in Britain, it (trainspotting) began to mean anybody who was obsessive about something trivial, and part of that is drugs. It's a very male thing. Women, they know better." The viewer then takes on Renton’s subjective point of view as he watches his parents leave the room. The next shot is a close-up of the lock on Renton’s door, which his father pulls and the diegetic sound of the lock is exaggerated and amplified to emphasize the feeling of being trapped with such a "terrible affliction". Right after his parents leave, non-diegetic instrumental music begins with short staccato beats and Renton’s voiceover is added to the mix. Voiceover is utilized throughout the film to guide the viewer. The camera slowly zooms in on his face and McGregor does a really terrific job at not just conveying fear, but rather a combination of the anticipation of the oncoming sickness coupled with anxiety. The camera then moves to behind Renton’s head and a wide-angle lens is employed, giving the room a distorted sense. His bed then appears to be moving backwards, making the room appear larger and Renton smaller in comparison. Slowly more sounds are added to the cacophony and the beat begins to speed up, alerting the viewer that something is going to happen. The camera returns to a close-up of Renton’s face, slightly off center in the field of view, sweating and twitching and once again another sound is heard, this one the voice of Diane. We are now on Renton’s subjective point of view as his dad enters the room. Again, a wide-angle lens is utilized to make the distance from Renton’s bed to the door seem longer, to make the room and impending sickness feels inescapable. Close up shots follow Renton very intently, employing rapid zoom-ins and zoom-outs, which make the camera unsteady, adding to the chaos of the scene. The viewer now hears the diegetic sound of a baby crying softly and as Renton turns his head we take on his implied subjective point of view and see the baby crawling on the ceiling. The camera flashes back to Renton, visibly disturbed, zooming in and out sporadically and as his level of panic slowly increases, we hear the sound of a cymbal crashing three times, another effective use of sound as the cymbals work with McGregor’s expression to increase the tension. As this montage continues, the viewer now sees a game show being played with Renton’s parents as the contestants answering questions about HIV. This was the 1980s when the HIV epidemic was at its height especially among intravenous drug users. This also helped foreshadow the next scene where Renton is tested. The acting by McGregor towards the end of this scene is absolutely fantastic as he truly illustrates the feeling of wanting to jump out of his own skin, an incredibly difficult emotion to portray. The babies crying returns and now a tracking shot is used but the camera actually appears to be on the ceiling and it gives the impression that the baby is moving closer to Renton which allows the audience to connect the growing fear and guilt with the baby, adding more emotional depth to Renton's character. Another figment of Renton’s imagination appears and again sound is employed as we see Spud, Renton’s friend who is in jail for committing the same crime as him, banging his shackles against a door. Once again, the diegetic sound allows us to connect Spud with Renton’s dormant guilt. Another figment appears and it is Tommy, another one of Renton’s friends, who is looking pale and much like an addict. Tommy was one of Renton’s friends who didn’t take part in heroin until left by his girlfriend and the juxtaposition between his muscular body at the beginning, and his thin frail look now help to illustrate the effects of the drug. Fill light is used here to cast a shadow behind Tommy to make him appear menacing. As if the images didn’t depict the theme of guilt enough, we are brought back to the game show host who asks “is he guilty or not guilty?” The final shot is a worm’s eye view shot of the baby on the ceiling in Renton’s subjective point of view as the baby's head rotates and we now see its face for the first time, which makes the experience more personable and the guilt more real. This scene stood out to me so much because it has an unbelievable ability to express a powerful message to the audience without the use of much dialogue. The camera work was extremely influential in reinforcing the disorder and the chaos of the scene and the use of sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, was vital as it complemented the lighting, powerful acting and cinematography. Boyle and his cinematographer Brian Tufano staged a masterful scene that accurately illustrates the horrors of withdrawal and vividly expresses the extreme guilt Renton feels due to his past actions.
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