These are the first words uttered in the movie Trainspotting; a monologue about the choices and decisions that the society of today advertises as choices that lead an individual to a “good life.” The monologue presses the listeners to think about the ideas we have about what it means to lead a good life; whether it is because it is a life we have chosen to live or if it is a good choice because it is the life that society defines as being good. The film finds its story here: whether it is better to live a life that society and all those part of it have decided to be a good one or choosing to make a life for yourself, a life that has heroin.

At its core, Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting is a story about the horrors of addiction and the choices involved in getting over it. The story follows Scotsman Mark Renton and his group of friends and their experiences scoring with heroin. It is a black comedy with a strange sense of humour that fits perfect to my taste (which may be why I enjoyed it much more than I should have). The characters are quirky and crazy but still relatable at the same time, making for a compelling narrative. I can honestly say that watching this movie has been some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time.  

One small thing that perhaps might not be anything to someone else but meant a lot to me is the story’s setting. I do a lot of different voices for different things; acting and for roleplaying in D&D. The Scottish accent was the first voice I ever learned how to do and hearing all the different characters speaking in the movie just added to my enjoyment. The characters themselves are another big reason that I enjoyed the movie. They are exactly the kind of people I expected to see in a heroin den. Some of my favourite movie scenes involve the most different personalities being put in the same room and being made to talk to one another.

Throughout the film, we are shown a group of friends as they try to make their way dealing in the world of hardcore heroin. They make choices that most of us would probably consider bad but they don’t care because as Renton says in his opening monologue, “who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?” Despite the obvious downtrodden state of their lives, Renton and his friends seem to be content for the most part. A lot of them are happy the way they are and see no point in trying to get better. As the film progresses this obviously changes but the feeling is the same throughout the film; this is the life that they have made for themselves.

Another theme that is felt throughout the film is that of addiction. Most, if not all, of the characters present in the story experience some form of addiction. For Renton and most of his boys, it’s heroin, whereas for others it might not be as obvious; cigarettes, weed, or even violence when looking at a character like Begbie. All of them have an itch of some form that they need to scratch constantly; each of them has their own ways of finding ways to circumvent their needs as well. Renton fights off the need to score heroin through getting his life together, Begbie likes winning and it seems to hold his violent nature back, Tommy had sex to fulfil his life but when he loses that he has to turn to heroin instead. Another way it is felt is through Renton’s attempt to escape the life of a junkie. For a while he manages to straighten his life out; gets a good job in London, gets his own flat, and gets off the heroin. However, like an addiction to the criminal underbelly, the life he led in Scotland slowly works its way back into his life when Begbie decides to force himself back in Renton’s life. Just like that, he’s back to the old life of dealing with junkie friends and junkie people. The addiction of heroin and the life that follows it will always try to make its way into Renton’s life it seems. This hit me on kind of a personal level; I smoke quite a bit and have been trying to be better about it. The way it was portrayed in the film is something that I can identify with on a much deeper level.

The final closing monologue is similar to the opening one but with a different perspective; instead of Renton telling the audience about what he’s come to understand as a good life, he tells the audience about what he plans to do to join us in our “good lives.” Yes, he ripped his friends off and left them for dead in a hotel somewhere in London but he claims that this is just him being who he is; a bad person choosing life. This final monologue really stuck with me as it’s something I think about quite often. A lot of people come from very different backgrounds and have many different stories that helped form the way they are today. Who am I to judge a person for where they have come from? At the end of the day, we’re all just choosing life.

Schizopolis is a crazy film. Not crazy in the same way that a film such as Mad Max: Fury Road is crazy; Schizopolis is a film that feels like a film that is literally made by someone suffering from some form of insanity. Scenes lacked any logic or real form of sense and most the dialogue seemed to be way out of context. The bare bones of a story were all that could be found in terms of plot. It was a story whose intended audience seemed to be the mentally insane.

A lot of effort had to be placed in the interpretation of the film. I spent half my time actually watching the movie and the other half attempting to piece together a story. Every time I thought I had come close to understanding something, a new element would come in and completely ruin my idea. It was quite frustrating and soon it was all I could think about while watching the film. Attempting to follow the plot eventually became a personal mission of mine. I was determined to beat the director’s attempt to confuse me. I believe this is why I had such an enjoyable time watching the film. I felt like there was some game to be won; a secret easter egg that the filmmakers had put in that would cause the film to suddenly make sense. This game is what led me to my thoughts about the intentions of the filmmakers.

While trying to interpret the movie, I was sure that Soderbergh put in some things just to mess with whoever would watch the film. This does after all; seem like the perfect film for bunch of college students to over-analyze. It’s apparent while watching the film that it does know how to tell a story; it just chooses not to. Instead, much of the film is open (and required) for interpretation. I can’t help but feel that some time ago, back in the nineties, that Soderbergh sat in a room with all his filmmaking friends and brainstormed the most lunatic way to tell a story. Perhaps this is just me self-projecting onto the film because it is 100% something I would do. It feels like one of those films that people would dedicate entire days to analyzing (or entire classes hehe) each and every scene even if none of it is supposed to have any meaning. In the world of film and movies, a movie that has been left open for interpretation is usually treated as an open door for insane analysis or hoity-toity “artistic” people looking for meaning in every scene. A personal pet peeve of mine is people who think themselves above the average person for being able to find “meaning” in a seemingly nonsensical movie. This film, to me, feels like a big middle finger to those kinds of people; an intentionally nonsensical film begging to be over analyzed without any meaning being there. That’s why this movie is something I’m going to recommend to many people.