Kira Moore

How does the aesthetic quality of Trainspotting depict youth and drug addiction?
Drug addiction in Trainspotting is depicted through the aesthetic qualities as an unhealthy
form of escapism and a nightmarish experience. In addition to this youths are depicted as all
having some form of addiction and being the lowest form of society. Hence the quote Being
Scottish is shite. Were the lowest of the low.
The first sequence where the escapism and nightmarish nature of drug addiction comes in is
in the Worst Toilet in Scotland sequence. This is mainly portrayed through the use of mise-
en-scene however, there are also elements of sound, cinematography and editing to create
the overall effect. The first mid shot of this sequence is of a sign that reads The Worst Toilet
in Scotland over a grimy door. This use of mise-en-scene immediately creates a tone of
dread and sets the scene up to be nightmarish not only because of the text but also because
it looks like whatever is in the toilet has seeped through to the outside of the door. Therefore
the impression is created that the inside must be infinitely worse that the grime on the off-
white door. The first long shot at floor level to the interior of the toilet confirms this.
In this long shot everything is brown or grey or yellow which are all very dull and dark
colours. They are also the colours the main character Renton is wearing which suggest him
as belonging there and hence presents him as a lower form of human than majority.
Therefore, as he is the youth in this sequence, here youths are depicted and lower forms of
humanity mainly through mise-en- scene here.
That the aforementioned long shot is at floor level shows how this is the very pit of all
society. Combine this with the broken urinals, what is presumably faeces splattered on
everything and the unidentifiable wrappers and a truly nightmarish image is painted. Add into
this diegetic dripping sounds and buzzing of flies and true disgust was felt by me as a viewer
both at the bathroom and Renton for having to use it. Again, this presents youths as beneath
the general populace. The mise-en-scene here could also be a reflection of Rentons health
and mental state. He has reaches such a low point of desperation he will settle for a
bathroom with no working urinals or running water or even an identifiable form of flooring.
This could also show how his body is physically suffering due to addiction not only due to the
evident sudden evacuation of the bowels but because the whole room reflects the mess that
must be his insides due to his heroin use.
This desperation is carried through to the point where Renton goes fishing around in his own
faeces for heroin suppositories. Here there is an extended take of a close up of Renton's
hands fishing in the water to make the viewer uncomfortable. It is at this point that the
fantasy and escapism element enter the sequence. Before this point there has been no non-
diegetic sound. This is purposely done to show the harsh reality of drug addiction. However,
as soon as a classical non-diegetic soundtrack starts playing the line between what is real
and what is in Rentons head is blurred. This is also shown through a mid-shot from the side
of Renton disappearing into the toilet head first. Logic tells us this isnt physically possible so
we assume it must be in Rentons head.
This holds particular weight as there is an underwater mine shown as he is swimming. This
placement of mise-en-scene reflects how close Renton is to death every time he uses
heroin. That he is underwater also reflects how he is drowning in his addiction which adds to
this sense of the entire situation being nightmarish. This is juxtaposed by the whimsical
music which shows how because he is high Renton doesnt care about the actual situation
hes in and the danger present.
Particularly within the actual toilet cubicle the shots become a lot more confined and create
a sense of claustrophobia. Many of these are used to show Renton's facial expression such
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as the close-up when he enters the toilet cubicle and when he goes looking for the
suppositories. Most of these being disgust and gagging which suggests to me as a viewer
that he too is disgusted by his own situation. That this doesnt stop him being relieved at
relieving himself or fishing around for the suppositories then means I find him disgusting as
well as he essentially becomes one with the toilet. Again, contributing to this viewer
superiority and hence the general depiction of youths and drug addicts as a lower form of
society. This confinement and use of only close-up and mid-shots also suggests that Renton
in trapped by his addiction which is, again, a nightmarish situation that only the drug addicts
in Trainspotting experience. Therefore, drug addiction is depicted as nightmarish.
This technique is also used in the Withdrawal Sequence whereby many of the shots are
also close ups of Rentons face to show his reaction and generally create this impression of
him being trapped. It is not only the shots but the mise-en-scene here at the very start of the
sequence that introduces this trapped atmosphere. There is a close-up of the door being
locked from the outside. This quite literally shows Renton as being trapped.
Shortly after this there is a dolly in shot of Renton's face after being refused any methadone
or other forms of drugs. It is here that we also see the non-diegetic music being used again
to suggest that not everything in the scene is real. This non-diegetic music, however, is just
a steady beating that doesn't change throughout the sequence but does act as a sound
bridge linking all of the different shots together.
In this scene the truly nightmarish depiction of drug abuse is showed through Renton's
hallucinations of his friends and of a dead baby. The first hallucination is of the friend
"addicted to people". That he has previously been described this way links to how youths are
all presented as having some form of addiction in 'Trainspotting' and are hence the lower
class of society. As Renton is scared by what his friends says the camera tracks his face to
show his reaction and create a sense of inclusion. This is important because it makes it clear
to me as a viewer that I am seeing what Renton is seeing and, therefore, it may not all be
real.
There is then a cut to a low angle of the baby crawling over the ceiling. This is slightly canted
to the other angles in the room creating a sense of surreality. The baby has also been
designed to look fake (especially evident in the close-up of its head turning 180o round)
which drives this theme of drug addiction being an escape and fantasy from reality.
Everything put in this scene through the mise-en-scene is designed to look too fake to be
real. This includes the train wallpaper which is relevant to the title 'Trainspotting' which gives
this scene special importance. I can therefore, as a viewer, draw the conclusion that this
scene holds all the key points of what 'Trainspotting' is about.
The diegetic sound is all representative of Renton's subconscious as he goes through
withdrawal. There are various shots of the TV throughout the sequence. They start off with
view of the full screen (a long shot of the characters within the TV) but every time there is
another shot of the TV after this it is both a close shot to the screen and a close shot of the
characters. This reflects Renton's concern about his health increasing as there are multiple
references to AIDS and HIV. This, therefore, shows the diegetic sound represents his
subconscious and hold context to when the film was released. This is because at the time
everyone believed drug users and homosexuals all carried the HIV virus.
This diegetic sound from the TV is overlaid with a mid-shot of Renton reacting to his friend
Tommy's presence in the room (as a hallucination). This suggest Tommy may have caught
HIV and Renton blames himself for it because he was the one that didn't stop Tommy from
deciding to do drugs in the first place. This links to the baby as well who we can now assume
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is in the sequence because Renton feels guilty about its death. Again, showing diegetic
sound as his subconscious as it directly related to the state Tommy is in ion Renton's
hallucination
This is carried through into the other hallucination as Renton sees Spud in chains on top of
his wardrobe. This is a long shot but the door to the room is out of frame showing how
trapped both Spud and Renton are at this point. Renton also hallucinated the underage girl
he slept with in her school uniform singing. This is a canted angle mid-shot. She looks very
young sat cross legged and sings a very innocent and childish song about really liking
Renton. Both of these reflect his guilt as he stole the girl's innocence and put Spud in jail.
Toward the end of this sequence, as the baby reaches Renton, all the diegetic sounds of
Spud's chains, Renton's screaming, the TV, Tommy brushing against the wall and the baby
noises build to crescendo. This is done as the shots of each of these are cross-cut together
in quick succession. This is non-continuity editing that shows the sense of fantasy but also
build the scene to such point that it is hard to watch. Such a nightmarish situation is created
and I as a viewer am very aware it is all because of the heroin addiction Renton has. He
wouldn't be hallucinating or going through withdrawal without it. Drug addiction is depicted
as a fantasy and escape but also as an experience that leaves a horrific nightmare behind it
to deal with afterwards. Youths are presented as the only ones involved in this and,
therefore, are depicted as the weak and undesirable lower class of humanity.
Therefore, in 'Trainspotting' the aesthetic values present drug addiction as nightmarish and a
form of escapism and youth as the undesirables of society.