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It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a decade since Danny Boyle led the charge for Cool Britannia with the surreal and poignant Trainspotting. With an edgy Britpop soundtrack and a hungry cast of unknowns (including pre-Obi-Wan Ewan McGregor), Boyle transformed Irvine Welsh’s slang- and jargon-challenged novel into the funniest and scariest film since Pulp Fiction two years prior, upping the ante with emotional resonance trumping pop culture obsession. Swimming through toilets, sinking into carpets and dead babies haunting drug withdrawal nightmares paint a pretty clear warning about the dangers of heroin. But with its nothing-to-lose ambition and the daring to define its own brand of cool, Trainspotting became so much more than just a drug parable. It’s an examination of being Scottish under the English flag in the British post-rave culture, a cynical commentary about growing up when your friends won’t let you and, ultimately, a heist flick. And in the last scene—when Mark “Rent-boy” Renton walks away from it all—Trainspotting pleads the case for leaving your past behind and finding your own freedom. Trainspotting screens at midnight Friday and Saturday at the Inwood Theatre, 5458 W. Lovers Lane. Admission is $8. Call214-764-9106 or visit landmarktheatres.com.
May 5-6