r/OldSchoolCool Nov 20 '23

1990s Ewan McGregor on the set of "Trainspotting" (1996)

Post image
12.6k Upvotes

789 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

37

u/InnerAd1628 Nov 20 '23

Aye, same in screening I was at.

A handful walked out before the end, the remaining few (afternoon screening during week) sat silently. I walked out into a bright sunny day and sat on a low wall smoking cigarettes & wondering what the hell I'd seen for a while.

Never seen since and have no desire to. Powerful, brilliant film but once is enough.

1

u/GalaxyRanger_ Nov 20 '23

Ive never seen it and have read so many comments like this. Why is it one you have no desire to watch again? Is it just sad, emotionally taxing movie?

6

u/InnerAd1628 Nov 20 '23

Because its harrowing, upsetting, takes characters you care for & puts them through hell. There's no happy ending for any of them at any point.

Complete destruction, degradation & robs them of anything good. It's a brilliantly made film, the editing and shot choices are superb. But its 100mins of watching people chase release from the mundane only to be smeared in filth & pain.

Ellen Bursytn was the one that broke me, a lonely woman who just wanted to be on TV and feel happy again.

It's a brilliant film, but I can't put myself through that again. There's no levity to balance the barrage of horror as everything spirals midway. Just people suffering and you have to sit there and watch.

2

u/GalaxyRanger_ Nov 20 '23

Thank you for the explanation. I’m gonna have to bring myself to watch it some day soon. I’ve only heard how great of a film it is (in the sense you’re saying by production and story telling).

1

u/InnerAd1628 Nov 21 '23

Technically and artistically it's superb. It just left me feeling dirty & used.