Before I went to see this film, I made the mistake of watching the first one. It's interesting to understand how our memory paints past experiences with colors that they don't actually have. My memory told me that film was a powerful mix of style and theme, a film about drugs as if it were made under the influence of them. Well, the style is there, badly aged, but the film is raw, i suppose as raw as a drugged youngster and as raw as the film-goer that i was.
Now this second part, this is something else. So cleverly conceived, so aware of the possibilities that the use of the first film as a piece of collective memory present, that i think this may be the best sequel ever as far as the relation with the first film goes. And it all lies on the writing, and how it affects the world of the film, and our world by extension.
The visual style is much more relaxed here, more meaningful, more mature (the visual world has also changed in the last 20 years). This means we get great cinematography which helps the story-telling instead of simply replacing it. But the magic happens in the writing:
Already in the first film, there was a group of troublemakers, plus Spud. The story was centered around Renton, and Spud was the outsider, the unwilling character, who literally observed what was going one, as underlined by the pivotal scene near the end when he sees Renton run away with the money (and being rewarded for that afterwards).
Here the character of Renton is not so much the center of the narrative, in the sense that we don't follow his story, although he unleashes everything we see. We follow everyone's story instead. Ewan Mcgreggor is the perfect actor to stand in that hard spot, of co-creating what's happening without occupying an obvious central spot. But while we are led to believe from the beginning that Renton will have the central stage, it's in fact Spud who (quite literally) tells the story. Near the beginning we see how Renton saves Spud's life, enabling him to be our designated story-teller.
From than on, almost all the interaction between characters will happen through Spud. And from a point on he will actually write the story that we see, encouraged by our second surrogate on-screen, Veronika. And the last act is amazing, because Spud writes the whole story, and by doing that influences the ending of it. So his writing is at the same time story-telling and story-creation. Amazing! At last we know that everything we saw in both films is through the eyes of, and co- created by Spud.
The last, and most cinematic device is the set of the last scene. The intended brothel, which was built and supervised by... Spud. He literally creates physically the place where the story ending will unfold. That is a beautiful set, incomplete as a construction site that it is, a work in progress where the rage will explode, where the debts will be settled. The mirror-room and how it is used in the staging of the fight between Renton and Begbie is amazing in its conception and visual use. I'm recommending this film, if possible colored by the memory of the old one.
Now this second part, this is something else. So cleverly conceived, so aware of the possibilities that the use of the first film as a piece of collective memory present, that i think this may be the best sequel ever as far as the relation with the first film goes. And it all lies on the writing, and how it affects the world of the film, and our world by extension.
The visual style is much more relaxed here, more meaningful, more mature (the visual world has also changed in the last 20 years). This means we get great cinematography which helps the story-telling instead of simply replacing it. But the magic happens in the writing:
Already in the first film, there was a group of troublemakers, plus Spud. The story was centered around Renton, and Spud was the outsider, the unwilling character, who literally observed what was going one, as underlined by the pivotal scene near the end when he sees Renton run away with the money (and being rewarded for that afterwards).
Here the character of Renton is not so much the center of the narrative, in the sense that we don't follow his story, although he unleashes everything we see. We follow everyone's story instead. Ewan Mcgreggor is the perfect actor to stand in that hard spot, of co-creating what's happening without occupying an obvious central spot. But while we are led to believe from the beginning that Renton will have the central stage, it's in fact Spud who (quite literally) tells the story. Near the beginning we see how Renton saves Spud's life, enabling him to be our designated story-teller.
From than on, almost all the interaction between characters will happen through Spud. And from a point on he will actually write the story that we see, encouraged by our second surrogate on-screen, Veronika. And the last act is amazing, because Spud writes the whole story, and by doing that influences the ending of it. So his writing is at the same time story-telling and story-creation. Amazing! At last we know that everything we saw in both films is through the eyes of, and co- created by Spud.
The last, and most cinematic device is the set of the last scene. The intended brothel, which was built and supervised by... Spud. He literally creates physically the place where the story ending will unfold. That is a beautiful set, incomplete as a construction site that it is, a work in progress where the rage will explode, where the debts will be settled. The mirror-room and how it is used in the staging of the fight between Renton and Begbie is amazing in its conception and visual use. I'm recommending this film, if possible colored by the memory of the old one.