Trainspotting and Film Form (or, choose narration, choose disjunction, choose a memorable opening sequence).

Danny Boyle's 1996 film Trainspotting has one of the most memorable opening sequences of that decade, and why it is so is because of its lack of subtlety. Right from the first frame we are thrown into the lives of Renton (Ewan McGregor) and Spud (Ewen Bremner) being chased by two security guards down Edinburgh’s Princes Street. McGregor’s own voiceover narration contrasts with the mise-en-scene through the juxtaposition of morals and lifestyle. The line “Choose life, choose a job, choose a career” is deliberate irony as the voiceover accompanies the images of Renton hurriedly looking behind at the pursuing guards, and dropping items that he presumably stole as he runs. In a dingy Edinburgh flat, Renton further violates his words by smoking a cigarette to the line: “Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance”. Renton’s words are a deliberate mocking of the expectations that people growing up are expected to achieve, and Boyle uses this to provide a cynical commentary and insight into Renton’s life, that his addiction to heroin explains that he doesn't care for building a life like every other person.

Boyle’s use of both disjunctive and continuity editing importantly show the passage of time between Renton and his friends’ lives. Particularly, Boyle repeatedly jump cuts between Renton taking a football on the head and falling over with his collapse on the flat’s floorboards. The result is similar to a fantasy-like state, and a sense of timelessness between the two scenes which adds to Renton’s complacency with drug use. In terms of continuity editing, the quick cuts between Renton and Spud’s chase are examples. They are indicative of urgency; Boyle’s use of repetition shows medium close ups as they are fleeing whilst cutting to their feet, showing the stolen items falling onto the footpath. This is done twice, and Boyle uses it in quick succession to establish consistency between the cuts in the opening sequence and establish for the audience the scene without using longer takes that may disrupt the pacing otherwise.

Boyle’s camera techniques drastically change in conjunction with the rapid editing; the following camera on Renton changes to a POV shot right before he runs into a car, to put the audience in perspective before his accident. Long shots allow more to be taken in from the frame, as when a medium shot of Renton smoking cuts to a wider shot of the dilapidated and empty flat’s interior, showing us the miserable state of his existence as a junkie. Another showing Spud continuing down the street signals the end of the chase as well as the medium close up shots. At the football game, Boyle uses a low angle shot and placement of Renton and his friends shoulder to shoulder in frame to manipulate the audience into speculating what is about to happen. This is answered by cutting to a long shot of a player from the other team taking a penalty kick and hitting Renton on the head, which while unfortunate is a further example of Renton’s status as an exception to the norm. One who has chosen to be, that is.


REFERENCES
Trainspotting. Dir. Danny Boyle. Film4 Productions, 1996. Film.

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Corrigan, Timothy & Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Third Edition. New York: Bedford/St Martin's, 2012. 471, 474, 481. Print.

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"Danny Boyle About "Trainspotting" (2003) Part 1/2". February 1st, 2010. YouTube. Web Video. 21st April 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZ14ojx34k>