Analysis of opening scene and Junky Limbo scene from Trainspotting

Opening scene

The opening scene of Trainspotting is widely regarded to be one of the most iconic scenes in British movie history. It does a great job of showing you what to expect for the rest of the movie, jumping straight into explicit scenes. The music that plays throughout it while Renton reels off all of the things to 'choose' sets the fast pace and adds an action-based effect to the scene. We get to see all of the main characters here and one of the sub-plots of the movie (Renton trying to get off of heroin) is set. Most of the camera shots are close ups or mid shots in this scene as it is still trying to develop the characters and introduce them to the viewer. The lighting in the house is very dark and miserable. This directly contradicts the light from the previous scene of being outside, and it also contradicts the music which is still playing in the background. This creates a strange effect on the audience which makes them not too disturbed or sad by the scene, despite it's darkness. The music almost makes it into a happy scene. The performances from the actors and actresses are very good as they portray the sort of people that 'junkies' should be. They are constantly doing weird things like trying to eat each others faces and saying weird things. The scene is somewhat similar to the junky limbo scene as it is dark and does not glamourise heroin use, but at the same time, it makes the viewers perception of it a lot worse in the junky limbo scene as a consequence of the absence of happy music.

Junky Limbo scene

This scene from Trainspotting is about Renton trying to overcome his heroin addiction while locked in his room. During this, he sees a lot of hallucinations and goes a little bit crazy. The performance from the actor here is outstanding. The reaction from the character of Mark Renton makes the viewer actually feel sympathy for him despite the fact that he is a heroin user who is not a very nice person at all. Graphic scenes are shown. Specifically, the dead baby (that died as a consequence of Mark and the other characters not looking after it) crawling along the ceiling. It is at this point that you can see the sweat from Renton on the bed. The music is a 'clubby-dance' type of tune and it once again contradicts the scene's visuals as it would be simply too dark to put in there without any music behind it. The lighting is obviously dark and the scene feels very isolated as he is trapped in his room and at one point, underneath his bedsheets. It makes the viewer feel like Renton is literally trapped inside of an area, which could be a metaphor for how he is trapped inside of his life in Scotland.