THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608170062
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 150 lines
``Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. . . . Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose life. . . .
But why would I want to do a thing like that?''
That's Renton, the anti-hero of ``Trainspotting,'' talking.
In what is destined to be the most controversial, perhaps most damned movie of the year, ``Trainspotting'' takes the drug culture of a group of Scottish boys and drops it squarely in the movie theaters of America. It is not a pleasant confrontation, even though the humor is raucous and hearty.
``Trainspotting,'' which arrived at several local theaters this weekend, is something of a phenomenon. It was the highest-grossing movie in England last year and is the second-biggest British-made film in English history. (The first is the decidedly lighter ``Four Weddings and a Funeral.'') Based on the cult novel by Irvine Welch, which has been called both hilarious and harrowing, the movie received a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and has been bowling over international film critics since.
But America is another thing.
It has been greeted with much press attention, but others claim it is a dangerous counter-offensive to America's war on drugs - a film that will draw young people and a film that some claim ``glorifies'' drugs.
Others have claimed it is merely voyeurism for yuppies - a cruel thrill ride.
Danny Boyle, the joyful Scot who directed ``Trainspotting,'' is not surprised by all the hoopla. Just off the plane from the U.K., he was ready for the American reaction to his film during his recent visit to California.
``I didn't expect it to make a cent in the United States,'' he said. ``It's a cynical film and Americans are not cynical the way people are in Europe, and particularly the United Kingdom.''
Boyle was unknown on the international film scene until he made an equally cynical little thriller called ``Shallow Grave'' last year. He has a ruddy face and a candid outlook; he is not going to soothe uneasy Americans' approach to his drug movie.
``I'm afraid that people don't actually take drugs to kill themselves,'' he said. ``Actually, they take drugs because they make them feel good. It's that simple. My film doesn't `glorify' drugs, I don't think, but it also doesn't promote the old theory that only mentally defective people take them. It's been called `sympathetic.' Well, all right. It isn't wrong to be sympathetic toward other human beings.''
``Trainspotting'' is, indeed, a break from film tradition in treating the subject of addiction. Movies have traditionally used earnest, sincere realism to dramatize the drug culture. ``Reefer Madness'' (1938), an early anti-drug film, ended up at midnight movies with its overwrought warnings.
But when Frank Sinatra starred in ``The Man With the Golden Arm'' (1955), the Motion Picture Association refused to approve the film, and America was shocked at what was the first sighting of a syringe for many moviegoers. Other films pictured harried victims, but ``Easy Rider'' (1969) took drugs on the road, and the movie industry hasn't been the same.
In the '70s, Hollywood, somewhat to its shame today, took a casual stance on drugs, often suggesting to young people that the scene was cooly rebellious, with such movies as the Cheech and Chong comedies.
The ``Just say no'' era of the '80s did have an effect: Hollywood now mostly ignores the drug scene. The public generally doesn't want downbeat, defeatist films.
Boyle claims that ``realism requires that our story be about victims but, in the end, most of our central characters aren't really victims. They've gotten on top of the drugs. But no one wants to see a drug movie. I don't think our movie is about drugs at all. It's about a group of boys who don't want to belong.''
On a roll now, the director adds, ``it's about male friendship. You know, guys lose friends much more than women do. Most of our boyhood friends we don't still have. We don't see each other. We don't ring each other. Girls put more time into keeping old friends. I think the movie is about that moreso than just about drugs.
``I've never done heroin, but the stuff I've done I've really had a good time. Now that I have children of my own, should I tell them the truth or should I scare them? I think you've got to be absolutely honest with them. Their peer groups know better. We need for them to know the truth about the dangers, but then there is realism, too. If people didn't like drugs they wouldn't take them.''
Jonny Lee Miller, the actor who plays a character named Sick Boy in the film, perhaps puts it most succinctly. ``These guys take drugs because they like it. That voice has not been heard until now.'' MEMO: FILMS ABOUT THE DRUG SCENE
Here is a handful of films (chosen at random) representing the
changing way Hollywood has looked at drug addiction from the '30s to
``Trainspotting.''
Reefer Madness'' (1938). Considered serious at the time, in the '70s
it became a midnight-movie in-joke with its badly acted warnings on the
horrors of marijuana.
Wild Weed'' (1949). Lila Leeds got the lead because she was actually
involved in a drug bust with actor Robert Mitchum (proving that drug use
has been an affliction of real-life Hollywood up to the travails of
Robert Downey Jr.). In this film, funny-smelling cigarettes ruin the
lives of everyone who inhales.
The Man With the Golden Arm'' (1955). Frank Sinatra played Frankie
Machine, an ex-addict who drops back into drugs. The Motion Picture
Association of America initially refused to give the Otto Preminger
movie its seal of approval.
Valley of the Dolls'' (1967). The ``dolls'' of the title were
addictive pills in this ultra-trashy, ultra-campy outing. As much as
anything, this was a step in establishing drug addiction in the
pop-fiction mainstream. Patty Duke, Susan Hayward, Sharon Tate and
Barbara Parkins were in the cast of shame.
The Trip'' (1967). Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Susan Strasberg in
what was billed as a ``psychedelic journey'' to the world of inner
consciousness, via drugs.
Easy Rider'' (1969). A generation-defining film featuring two young
men in the late 1960s who go looking for America via a motorcycle trip
across America. Among the things they find are drugs and Jack Nicholson.
Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper were the bikers.
Woodstock'' (1970). Love and peace and independent freedom are the
memory of the concert's spectators, but to the millions who were not
there it sent the message that drugs were somehow aligned with freedom
and expression.
Cheech and Chong: ``Still Smokin'' (1979), ``Nice Dreams'' (1981),
and ``Up in Smoke'' (1979). The spaced-out comedy duo became an alarmist
cause at the time when some viewers thought the casual use of drugs was
not so funny.
Cocaine Cowboys'' (1979). It was filmed at Andy Warhol's home.
Lowlife rockers support themselves by selling drugs. Jack Palance was in
the cast.
Sid and Nancy'' (1986). The self-destructive lifestyle of the Sex
Pistols' Sid Vicious and groupie Nancy Spungen with Gary Oldman and
Chloe Webb. Sad but occasionally comedic.
Bright Lights, Big City'' (1988). Based on Jay McInerney's novel, it
had Michael J. Fox as a Manhattan yuppie whose world begins to fall
apart in a cycle of drugs. Fox was badly miscast but it was a step in
suggesting drugs crossed economic lines and that yuppies, too, were at
risk.
Drugstore Cowboy'' (1989). Drugstore-robbing junkies represent the
``me generation'' in a world of addiction. Matt Dillon starred. In spite
of the dour setting, it was widely accused of glorifying drugs. The news
was that the tide was turning and now society noticed.
Dazed and Confused'' (1993). A look back at the '70s with eight young
people facing life after high school. Watergate, the Vietnam War and
feminism share the stage with drugs as factors that shaped the
generation.
Fantasia.'' (1940) Walt Disney's most personal animation feature, and
often regarded as his masterpiece, drew renewed news attention during
its 1970s release when it was adopted by the drug culture - most of whom
sat close down front to absorb the colors and mood. Disney purists were
not amused.
- Mal Vincent ILLUSTRATION: Miramax Films color photo
Ewan McGregor plays Renton... by CNB