Trainspotting by Danny Boyle, 1996 - Essay Example

Trainspotting by Danny Boyle, 1996Trainspotting is a British film that was produced by Andrew Macdonald and directed by Danny Boyle (Welsh 3). Some of the common cast members in this comedy film include Kevin McKidd, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Ewan McGregor and Johnny Lee Miller. According to the events in the film, it is rather evident that the film is based on a novel which is also known as Trainspotting. The film that was released in 1996 focuses on a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh who were economically depressed.

There are other current themes that are also addressed in this film including urban poverty among others. This paper will discuss Boyle’s use of parallel editing. According to visual arts and film studies, parallel editing is a technique whereby two or more scenes happen simultaneously, but in different locations co-currently (Smith 6). In some cases, this technique is also known as cross cutting. In most cases, when the scenes are simultaneous, they culminate in a single area whereby the parties are involved in a confrontation.

Cross or parallel editing is used to create suspense hence, adding interest and excitement in a film scene. In this case, Masahiro Hirakubo was responsible for editing this film. Boyle employed the parallel editing technique in several scenes, in the film. Trainspotting the film captures the insolent and amoral intelligence of Welsh as portrayed in the cult novel by Irvine Welsh. The beginning of the film contains severe editing hence; the audience notices that the film significantly affected Britain and it did not dent America.

The most probable reason why the movie did not affect America was because it was too apparent for those conservatives. The scenes in the film clearly assert that Trainspotting is the most liberal film that is connected to drug-related issues. Boyle juggles parallel character strands and juxtaposes several images (Smith 23). The film centers on the youthful disaffection with the verve of an exemplary pop culture. According to the events presented in Trainspotting, Boyle developed the technique of using cross editing to provoke suspense.

In the introductory section, McGregor and Bremner were running down Princes Street after they were being pursued by security guards. However, after being sober from the induced state, McGregor decides to quit heroin (Smith 34). Later on, he decides to buy opium rectal suppositories and decides to undergo withdrawal in a small hotel. However, when he is close to his friends in a sober state he feels like an outcast. He later goes to the bar and has sex with a woman called Diane (Macdonald) who later refuses to let him to sleep in his house.

Tommy (McKidd) had been dumped by her girlfriend Lizzy after numerous events that were facilitated by Renton who was also a Heroin addict together with Sick Boy and Spud. Later on in the film, Renton and Spud were caught while they were trying to shoplift a bookshop. Renton undergoes numerous mind-disturbing events and hallucinations that were attributed by the heroine. After these hallucinations, Renton is aroused by his parents who wanted him to get tested for HIV since, heroine users usually share syringes.

However, he tested negative, but he is depressed and bored for living. In the end, they spent a lot of money to start over a fresh life. These ideas in the movie that were coined by Boyle were parallel edited hence, leaving the viewers in suspense (Welsh 39). Works CitedWelsh, Irvine. Trainspotting. Edinburgh: Random House Audio books, 1997. Print. Smith, Murray. Trainspotting. New York: BFI Publishing, 2002. Print.