Trainspotting

Friday, February 24 - Saturday, February 25, 2017

“A shocking, painfully subjective trawl through the Edinburgh heroin culture of the 1980s, Irvine Welsh’s cult novel is hardly an obvious choice for the team who made Shallow Grave. Yet the film’s a triumph. Audaciously punching up the pitch-black comedy, juggling parallel character strands and juxtaposing image, music and voice-over with a virtuosity worthy of Scorsese on peak form,Trainspotting the movie captures precisely Welsh’s insolent, amoral intelligence. Amoral, but not unthinking, and certainly not unfeeling. Nihilism runs deep in this movie, emotion cannot be countenanced, only blocked off by another hit, another gag, but the anarchic, exhilarating rush of the highs can’t drown out the subsequent, devastating lows – these are two sides of the same desperation.Danny Boyle’s intuitive, vital, empathetic direction pushes so far, the movie flies on sheer momentum – that and bravura performances from Bremner’s gormless Spud, Carlyle’s terrifying Begbie and, especially, McGregor’s Renton, who supplies a low-key, charismatic centre. This may not have the weight of ‘Great Art’, but it crystallises youthful disaffection with the verve of the best and brightest pop culture. A sensation.” –Time Out (London)

• Year 1996
• Running Time 93 minutes
• Director Danny Boyle

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.