TRAINSPOTTING: ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE RESOLUTION

london

• montage is a display of renton’s character and how it bleeds through his narration:
• he’s not a reliable narrator and the frenzy and fast-paced nature of the london montage depicts how he views london
• stark contrast to prior scenes is this positive vibrant look on life 
• we see into his new life and job, and the speed matches the way we see london (proof of narration embodying his view on life 
• we see that even his honest to god real job is still ‘cheating’ as we see him hiding the complete truth and lying to consumers (which is part of the job but)
• perhaps this is parts of the job he likes and/or familiar with and that’s why he enjoys it 
• regardless, he is finally finding happiness in what he’s doing which was the choice to move away from his friends
• ‘there’s no such thing as society.. ‘ still acknowledges that he is alienated from the rest of world which is. contradictory to what he shows: he’s seen around so many people so perhaps this is his own minor insecurities leaking through of future renton looking back at how he’ll keep being pulled into his old life unless he moves away further for good (amsterdam)
• ‘almost content’ what else does he need? the closure from his friends to finally move away
• Edinburgh is quieter, shots are upside down and contrast to london something renton wants to be away from
• diane’s letter portrays their relationship, one still that is of respect but not the same underage sleeping type with rentons more content lack of guilt outlook
• the letter becomes visualised through rentons imagination and the audience recognises that renton was right to move away as they don’t seem to be getting better

 renton simply says ‘oh no’

• acknowledgement of how well he knows his friends even now
• change in expression means we and renton know that degbies return means nothing good
• music cuts with the introduction of the doorbell; life as renton knows it will be cut too

tommy’s funeral

• audience sees a train, link back to the title of the film and how the train represents the bridge between rentons new and old lives
• renton, more matured than the beginning of the film asks how he died
• reminder of renton’s hand in his death; it’s because of him breaking the couple up that he died (remorse?) but also his severe addiction (‘he’d gone full blown’)
• recurring idea of human waste gives the idea of biological decay that destroyed the group , but specifically tommy in this scene 
• one of the few times renton doesn’t narrate, but rather gav and the images are rentons imagination 
• juxtaposition of the man at the altar humanising tommy (‘a son... a keen musician.. a brother..’ vs the crude language used to describe the grim way he dies)
• short cuts to the kitten seem misplaced in such a ‘grief stricken’ scene
• establishment of ‘loyalty/friendship’ as the camera pans to the rest of group during the story
• one even tries to hush him up (respect?)
• story ends as the camera follows the cat into tommy’s apartment, showing only half of his dead body
• reminder of tommy’s loss of athleticism, and general apathy for life (or the group) as the pan shows also the soccer ball

renton steals 

• the music is loud and fast; the audience is subjected to this feeling of anxiety as he steals
• but the audience empathises; we know and understand that renton is better without his friends due to the prior scenes

 renton is more self aware in his narration here 

• he recognises that this is a bad thing to do and that his friends cause him to be a bad person and the audience understand why he does it 
• we remember however that he is still a unreliable narrator with his own judgement when he justifies that sick boy would have done the same and that we only see renton as the protagonist and side with him bc that’s the only view we’ve been given 
• the audience sympathise with spud who is the only one who sees renton leave, but doesn’t say anything, showing that he still has a loyalty to renton even if he has to deal with degbies repercussions later and the audience is reminded that renton isn’t wholly a victim and is still hurting spud as he leaves
• we learn what renton wants to do with the money and find ourselves hope that he does what he says (be clean, be normal)
• the narration follows and mimics the same style the beginning did, except there is no negative tone, no negative imagery portraying his more positive outlook on life as he chooses to disregard his previous existential crisis like comments. renton wants the life that he tried so hard to alienate from and he chooses life in a different way
• the direct address to audience/breaking of fourth wall is abrasive in its clarity: we could be just like renton and made the same choices in his position, and he can be just like us (the generalisation that we are dental insurance, good health, tv buying, studying people) 
• renton removes his passport and leaves behind money for spud, showing how he plans to move away for good far away and how he rewards spud marked the end of his selfishness for a friend who did not try to harm him 
• we don’t truly know if he is clean. we can be optimistic and say the money and lack of pressure from friends would keep him clean but we’ve seen him make this promise over the film and he relapsed every time
• ultimately it was his decision to relapse regardless of what his ‘friends’ have said he is not without autonomy 
• this might just be another promise he breaks
• the course of the film, his increased self awareness and more positive outlook implies that he could stay clean now 
• eg he takes his own responsibility for his actions and acknowledges for once his own mental health as being a driving force for his addiction rather than just a ‘choice’ 
• when he finally acknowledges that his a ‘bad person’ it’s a complete and obvious indication of his own self awareness 
• the crossing of the bridge is symbolic of new beginnings and ‘walking to the other side’ of the past and what he leaves behind
• the straight and narrow as he walks straight forward implies he does intend on staying that way as he walks closer to the camera
• there’s no more fast changes in shot, no backwards, upside down shots either. a single long stationary shot to imply how the craze has died down 

renton chose to push the blame of his addiction elsewhere, eg nihilistic beliefs, a choice of a hobby (mirroring the futile useless hobby of train spotting), or his friends, but in the end the only thing that let him be clean was acknowledging that it wasn’t these things and making the decision himself, without it being court mandated to be clean elsewhere. he became more self aware and matured even ‘out-growing’ the incompetency of his group. 

tommy ends on the same futility, as his original attempt to stay in good health is ruined as he dies in a horrifically unhealthy state, surrounded by the motif of human faeces. his fate could arguably be rentons fault, but his first thought after hitting a bump is heroin, and this choice snowballed and cements his fate.