What's so great about Trainspotting in my opinion is that to this day, it's still strikes a cord with so many young people who see it for the first time. It does defy a generation, but it's still relevant.
This is everything I love about kermode. The awareness of his own taste, the clarity of critique and taking other critics/his peers seriously. This video keeps me coming back and asking “am I still a part of the zeitgeist”.
HostDisorder I like to think it's young... My main drink still is strawberry lemonade. I wonder if growing up is more like a realization that you're just not going to change much...
I think the internet has led to this current generation of teenagers and twenty-somethings being too fractious to really ever have a 'film of a generation', there are too many different subcultures for there to be a cohesive whole 'movement' to form.
can anyone think of a film that defines this generation? Im 25 and I'm really struggling to think of one that really stands out in the same way that trainspotting does. I remember This is England coming out when I was 16 and the hype surrounding that, pretty much anyone my age that saw it thought it was the best thing ever... im not sure I can think of another example
Oh god, I do feel old, my husband and I went to see this on our first date!! And then I went again with my pals, one of only 3 films I've went to see in the pictures twice.
Great video on generation gaps in art. Trainspotting was the British film of the generation. But the true film of that generation, which I can attest to, having been a teenager at the time, was Pulp Fiction. I agree with your wisdom on many things, but I never get how you missed what Pulp Fiction is, either in the work of Mr Tarantino, to my generation, or to film as a whole. Of course, it has many overlaps with Trainspotting. Totally get what you mean about generations, though :)
+Kick's Mix Gaming Out of curiosity are you British? For me Trainspotting hit my generation full in the face, caught the BritArt wave, sat smoking in so many student flats with the Trainspotting poster shown in this very video up on the walls. The opening lines by Renton echo on down the line much more than Pulp Fiction imo. Sure Pulp Fiction is quotable but it has no substance. A later zeitgeist film Fight Club almost quotes some of the stuff that came out of Trainspotting word for word. The wardrobe to the music (Leftfield, Underworld, Blur, a year later Pulp kills it at Glastonbury) , totally of that (my) generation.
+Hoopla10 Oh yes, I am a Brit, otherwise I'd need urban dictionary to get Trainspotting at all, haha. I do think Trainspotting is fantastic. But as I was a teenager at the time, the real talking point was Pulp Fiction. I can't speak for others, but it wasn't the dialogue that stood out for me, it was the magic feeling of seeing a lot of things happen in a movie that I hadn't seen before (albeit in familiar genre movie settings). (And I don't mean that silly briefcase.) It's hard to say exactly why, but somehow it was a positive, life affirming film. I guess it might be that many of the stories expressed the flipping of a horrible situation into something darkly positive pretty neatly. Big Pulp fan here too :)
I wasn't a big fan of The Exorcist, but I much preferred Mark Kermode's BBC documentary about it. Does anyone else prefer a movie's documentary to the movie itself?
I was listening to a long interview with Adele, and I got so used to hearing a British cockney accent, that when I turned it to Mark Kermode, his British accent sounds completely American to me.
+MatthewLedZepfan You're not the only one who's noticed. Mark has been slowly turning into an American for about 6 years. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but It is quite funny, and I can't exactly pin down why it's happened. Just look at any old review of his from around 2008, and compare to any after 2010. It's mad, but you have to laugh at it.
A very arbitrary question, but which 18 certificate films since can be put in the 'films of a generation' category? I mean the ones that garner a lot of attention and are remembered as classics. I'm drawing a blank.
Doesn't the outpouring of love for the film make you a tiny bit intrigued? How else do you find films to watch without limiting yourself to predefined tropes? What are you afraid of?
Ferris buelers day off, was very 80s Porno Irvine Welsh's sequel to Trainspotting was the funniest book I ever read. I just don't think it would be a "Generation Film" Unless they go with another purpose script
There hasn't been nor likely will there be a "Trainspotting" of this generation of dissafected youth in the west, not until a film comes out that combines Mephadrone / drugs-from-the-internet, Ketamine, Dubstep, social media, the credit crunch / obliteration of everyone under 30's potential future on the altar of capital. This film should exist already, why has no one made it? No doubt some have tried but thanks to the stranglehold the last generation still has on the means of cultural production it is unlikely that any film of that sort if going to fly.
+Mr. Veteran I was crazy about it when it came out but I don't care much for it anymore. I think I've simply grown out of it. I know my taste in films is far better now than back then.
Chris Johnson I guess, but I wasn't keen on it on my first viewing. The film doesn't have much of a story and I didn't really care for/like the characters besides Spud. I think it's a still so concerned with being black-hearted and edgy that it forgets to have any emotional connection with its audience. It's definitely weaker than Shallow Grave, as that had at least characters with some moral compass. To be fair, I haven't seen much of Danny Boyle's work, so those films might have been a bad place to start considering how acclaimed his films are later on.
My favourite line: "Begbie didn't do drugs either. He just did people."
+seahawk124 Did ya bring the cards ?
What's so great about Trainspotting in my opinion is that to this day, it's still strikes a cord with so many young people who see it for the first time. It does defy a generation, but it's still relevant.
Hannah Perry the toilet sequence still leaves me stunned.
I've recently just watched it again, and it was terrific.
"Hey what are you going to do , you're wrong" I love Mark Kermode
This is everything I love about kermode. The awareness of his own taste, the clarity of critique and taking other critics/his peers seriously.
This video keeps me coming back and asking “am I still a part of the zeitgeist”.
The end of Trainspotting is the best set of scenes ever (the last 15 mins), undoubtedly
I'm already thinking "where does the time go" at age 23.
HostDisorder
I like to think it's young...
My main drink still is strawberry lemonade.
I wonder if growing up is more like a realization that you're just not going to change much...
HostDisorder
Everything feels like it's moving fast.
But when I look back at a year I still like a lot has happened luckily.
+PauLtus B Yeah, I sometimes wonder if kids are getting older younger, as it were, these days.
+PauLtus B I'm doin the same at 19
Jamie Williamson
O I never think about getting older.
Or anything in my future really.
I probably should.
Watched it for the first time in ages a couple of weeks ago & still love it
That film is still a proper blast of pure energy. Easily one of the best British films ever made.
I think the internet has led to this current generation of teenagers and twenty-somethings being too fractious to really ever have a 'film of a generation', there are too many different subcultures for there to be a cohesive whole 'movement' to form.
can anyone think of a film that defines this generation? Im 25 and I'm really struggling to think of one that really stands out in the same way that trainspotting does. I remember This is England coming out when I was 16 and the hype surrounding that, pretty much anyone my age that saw it thought it was the best thing ever... im not sure I can think of another example
Avengers
Definitions aren't always complimentary
"I liked it. I thought it was really good." - BEST KERMODE REVIEW EVER!
Oh god, I do feel old, my husband and I went to see this on our first date!! And then I went again with my pals, one of only 3 films I've went to see in the pictures twice.
Great video on generation gaps in art. Trainspotting was the British film of the generation. But the true film of that generation, which I can attest to, having been a teenager at the time, was Pulp Fiction. I agree with your wisdom on many things, but I never get how you missed what Pulp Fiction is, either in the work of Mr Tarantino, to my generation, or to film as a whole. Of course, it has many overlaps with Trainspotting. Totally get what you mean about generations, though :)
+Kick's Mix Gaming Out of curiosity are you British? For me Trainspotting hit my generation full in the face, caught the BritArt wave, sat smoking in so many student flats with the Trainspotting poster shown in this very video up on the walls. The opening lines by Renton echo on down the line much more than Pulp Fiction imo. Sure Pulp Fiction is quotable but it has no substance. A later zeitgeist film Fight Club almost quotes some of the stuff that came out of Trainspotting word for word. The wardrobe to the music (Leftfield, Underworld, Blur, a year later Pulp kills it at Glastonbury) , totally of that (my) generation.
+Hoopla10 Oh yes, I am a Brit, otherwise I'd need urban dictionary to get Trainspotting at all, haha. I do think Trainspotting is fantastic. But as I was a teenager at the time, the real talking point was Pulp Fiction. I can't speak for others, but it wasn't the dialogue that stood out for me, it was the magic feeling of seeing a lot of things happen in a movie that I hadn't seen before (albeit in familiar genre movie settings). (And I don't mean that silly briefcase.) It's hard to say exactly why, but somehow it was a positive, life affirming film. I guess it might be that many of the stories expressed the flipping of a horrible situation into something darkly positive pretty neatly. Big Pulp fan here too :)
He's making some real good points here...
And so we're here. I'd link the T2 advert but it'll probably spoil the whole film
that's mary ann hobbs's reaction to everything though :)
btw I think twin town has aged a lot better than trainspotting...
I feel part of every generation so should hopefully relate to part 2
I wasn't a big fan of The Exorcist, but I much preferred Mark Kermode's BBC documentary about it. Does anyone else prefer a movie's documentary to the movie itself?
trainspotting is a great film.
I was listening to a long interview with Adele, and I got so used to hearing a British cockney accent, that when I turned it to Mark Kermode, his British accent sounds completely American to me.
+MatthewLedZepfan Mark's accent is weird. He's from North London but pronounces some of his vowels in a Northern England way.
+MatthewLedZepfan
You're not the only one who's noticed.
Mark has been slowly turning into an American for about 6 years.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but It is quite funny, and I can't exactly pin down why it's happened.
Just look at any old review of his from around 2008, and compare to any after 2010. It's mad, but you have to laugh at it.
+Robert Nicholls He spent a lot of time at the University of Manchester on his degree and PhD, could that be the source of his blend of accents?
A very arbitrary question, but which 18 certificate films since can be put in the 'films of a generation' category? I mean the ones that garner a lot of attention and are remembered as classics. I'm drawing a blank.
CARLOSi the warriors
battle royale
When deep in my cups, I pull this out. I call it "Trainspotting"-drunk.
oh my god, you just had to get the Exorcist in there Mark haha, because no one knows its your fav film of all time do they?
Trainspotting 2?? : No-oo! Don't do it!
It's okay to swear on the Internet.
Blimey Charlie!
I have never seen it, and don't want to much.
Doesn't the outpouring of love for the film make you a tiny bit intrigued? How else do you find films to watch without limiting yourself to predefined tropes? What are you afraid of?
Ferris buelers day off, was very 80s
Porno Irvine Welsh's sequel to Trainspotting was the funniest book I ever read. I just don't think it would be a "Generation Film"
Unless they go with another purpose script
errr, so when was the death of punk?
Why is he wearing shades? It's february
Why do you have different colour trousers?
There hasn't been nor likely will there be a "Trainspotting" of this generation of dissafected youth in the west, not until a film comes out that combines Mephadrone / drugs-from-the-internet, Ketamine, Dubstep, social media, the credit crunch / obliteration of everyone under 30's potential future on the altar of capital. This film should exist already, why has no one made it? No doubt some have tried but thanks to the stranglehold the last generation still has on the means of cultural production it is unlikely that any film of that sort if going to fly.
Mary Ann Hobbs is always right.
Am I the only one who finds this film quite overrated?
+Mr. Veteran I was crazy about it when it came out but I don't care much for it anymore. I think I've simply grown out of it. I know my taste in films is far better now than back then.
+Mr. Veteran No. You're not a special snowflake.
marlboro1771 Thank God.
HostDisorder So be it then.
Chris Johnson I guess, but I wasn't keen on it on my first viewing. The film doesn't have much of a story and I didn't really care for/like the characters besides Spud. I think it's a still so concerned with being black-hearted and edgy that it forgets to have any emotional connection with its audience. It's definitely weaker than Shallow Grave, as that had at least characters with some moral compass. To be fair, I haven't seen much of Danny Boyle's work, so those films might have been a bad place to start considering how acclaimed his films are later on.
Shallow Grave wasn't even half the film Trainspotting was. The female flatmate in Shallow Grave was the worst actress I have ever seen!