I watched through Trainspotting properly after all of these years, and I think it's one of those films which ends on a note that is open but still provides enough closure on its main character. Renton performs a little heist on his own friends and crew after the group perform a relatively large drug sale, leaving a small amount to just one of them given he believes he's innocent enough to deserve that treatment. Renton throughout the film is trying to escape his drug habits, but always falling back into them for one reason or another. Though he knows that the life isn't for him. Even in the opening scene there's narration from him on choosing life. On how the simplest of activities in life can be what life is about, but not drug consumption. Not petty theft and misery. In the end of the film that narration is repeated, on how he's finally going to pursue such things. He takes the money and flees the country, knowing it's what's best for him.
That open ending has us never really knowing where he's going or whether he's going to be okay in the end. We don't know if he goes somewhere and shoots up and dies immediately, or wastes the the money gambling. Or even if he leaves to a foreign land and starts anew. That ending being relatively open is something that makes Trainspotting so good. It's the not knowing and having to guess on your own which makes that story have the impact it does, we want to believe Renton goes on to live a better life away from the people that were considered his friends but kept him in old habits. We even get a bit of context towards the end showing that his friends mostly did stick to their ways without him and that stealing the cash and fleeing to London the best decision. Though leaving the country later on would clearly be what he needs to stay clean.
Now, I don't think T2 Trainspotting is a bad film, but it is one that doesn't need to exist. It holds those typical traits of a sequel that appears decades later purely just to exist decades later. With Renton for some reason finding his way back to Scotland and the past coming back to haunt him. Part of what made Trainspotting so appealing was also its gritty nature. It came at a time where the UK's film industry was relatively low budget, and everything still remained shot on 35mm film stock. With 35mm film stock, there's the darker tones in the shadow transitions, the contrast and the grit of film noise. A film about drug abuse and misery is naturally going to look great on film. Take into consideration Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher series as another example. Digital, in comparison, will just look a lot cleaner, and there's not much in the way of lenses that can change that. It really is all in the film stock. Sure, they couldn't gone for post-processing in a film format style but again this isn't really a film that has much reason for existing. The extra work would've been more budget.
T2 Trainspotting is something I knew I would enjoy but also knew I wouldn't care for. I think it's a film that was purely made to pull out something from the grave much like the 28 Days / Weeks Later / Years franchise. Where Boyle felt like making something new but probably couldn't get the funds for an original idea and just went digging. I think the film still has some good directing to it, but I'd perceive it more as a "What if...?" type of story more than a true sequel. It's different in its appearance, in its style, and naturally a lot of time has since passed. It's a film that pulls everything together just out of nowhere, relying on its past to give itself story. Renton back home, back in the same old house, the same old room, and many of its characters still pursuing their slightly more advanced shenanigans. I think I'll throw out a general review on the film soon, but this post felt like something I wanted to do to get these thoughts out.
T2 Trainspotting isn't a bad film. It's technically made rather well. Unique cinematography that suits the story and characters. Directing that finds its creativity and establishes context. But it felt like just another sequel that came way too many years later because of money and nostalgia bait.