Scene of the Week: Trainspotting’s Toilet Scene

WORDS: James Dowling

Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting is one of the biggest cult films to emerge from the 90s. Although the film at times reveals the horrors of a junkie’s life, such a comic depiction of the world of heroin has earned it disrepute as trivialising the agonies of the addict’s ordeal. Although I would disagree, if there is one scene in the film that justifies such criticism, it is undoubtedly the toilet scene.

The scene is one of the first incidences just after our struggling protagonist, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), resolves to quit heroin, and it requires the briefest of introductions. In a desperate search for “one last hit” the best Renton can procure is two opium suppositories, clearly unsatisfactory for Renton’s needs (“For all the good they’ve done me I may as well have shoved them up me arse”) but reluctantly accepts given his dire straits. Shortly afterwards while walking down the street Renton is stricken with a bout of diarrhoea, the constipating effect of heroin having left his system. And so he bursts into the local bookkeepers, ignoring the reproachful glares of elderly men (assumedly his reputation as a junkie precedes him) as he makes a hasty dash for “The Worst Toilet in Scotland”.

I don’t imagine that a bathroom with such appalling conditions could credibly exist in very many settings in the Western world at this time. The back of a bookie’s in the slums of Edinburgh, however, is one of the unfortunate few. The lighting is just bright enough to make out a room with such grime-covered walls and facilities as would put the before-part of a Domestos ad to shame. Boyle opens on a low angle shot, ensuring we experience this state of unadulterated filth not safely from above but down among the faecal matter and God knows what else.

After relieving himself into a practically over-flowing toilet, Renton realises that his suppositories have joined the ominous brown abyss. He doesn’t even think about it: this is a heroin addict who has been denied his final hit. Desperation outweighs disgust and he does the unthinkable: he begins searching through the toilet. The camera shows us all angles of Renton’s exploration and holds nothing back. We are given his own viewpoint: his hands combing the dark depths of the toilet and returning unsuccessfully with only brown matter (which was in reality chocolate). A side angle shows Renton’s reaction: a mix of determination and revulsion. Shots from above and behind provide the perspective of a person who might have happened upon the scene and reveal, comedic effect aside, the sad reality of what is being depicted. Keeping in mind the disdain with which Renton regarded the suppositories, what we are being presented with is a drug addict so desperate that he has been reduced to blindly searching through an excrement filled toilet for some sorry chance of gratification.

What has made the scene famous, however, is what happens next: he begins to descend into the toilet. The strings of George Bizet’s Habanera are heard, its light-hearted rhythm confirming our suspicions that reality has vanished from this scene, and the last we see of Renton are his Converses as he is completely submerged. And so it is that we are transported from the foulest of restrooms to an ocean of purest blue. Renton swims to the bottom, retrieves his suppositories, and makes his successful return to reality.

So what does it all mean? Some may consider the scene to be an example of the delusions and euphoric feelings of the addict’s mind. But we must bear in mind that this sequence of events was borne of Renton’s sobriety: he had no drugs in his system at this time. I believe that Renton did what any person in such a grotesque situation would: he tried to take his mind off it by thinking of something else. The ocean scene is indeed beautiful, in stark contrast to the toilet. Deep Blue Day by Brian Eno has a calming effect, its gentle tones reminiscent of a day at the spa. The bright light shining from above assures us he is in no danger; this is a carefree and soothing environment Renton has created for himself.

Taken in its whole, the toilet scene has the power to both disgust and amaze. Boyle’s introduction of such a fantastical notion to such a squalid setting is remarkable and one of the cinematic effects that sets Trainspotting apart from other films of this genre. The scene’s pivotal role in the film and popularity was seen when Boyle announced there would be a similar scene in the sequel, which was confirmed by the director in March 2013.

 

2 thoughts on “Scene of the Week: Trainspotting’s Toilet Scene

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *