Trainspotting at 25:Ten of the most memorable quotes from Danny Boyle’s cult 1996 film (warning: Explicit Content!)
From Mark Renton’s anti-Scotland diatribe to his stuff-of-legend “Choose Life” rant, the cult movie is full of gems.
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Hide AdHere, to celebrate Trainspotting’s 25th anniversary on February 23, we look back at some of the film’s most memorable moments.
1 – Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor): “Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f****** big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of f****** fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the f*** you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing f****** junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, p****** your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, f***** up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?”
2 – Francis Begbie (Robert Caryle): “Armed robbery. With a replica. I mean, how the f*** can it be armed robbery with a f***ing replica?”
3 – Mark Renton: “Sick Boy is seriously lacking in moral fibre.”
Dealer: “But he knows a lot about Sean Connery.”
Renton: “That's hardly a substitute.”
4 – Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller): “Personality, I mean that's what counts, right? That's what keeps a relationship going through the years. Like heroin, I mean heroin's got a great f****** personality.”
5 – Mark Renton: “Well, I'll come back with you if you like, but like, I'm not promising anything, you know.”
Diane (Kelly Macdonald): “Do you find that this approach usually works? Or let me guess, you've never tried it before. In fact, you don't normally approach girls - am I right? The truth is that you're a quiet sensitive type but, if I'm prepared to take a chance, I might just get to know the inner you: witty, adventurous, passionate, loving, loyal. Taxi! A little bit crazy, a little bit bad. But hey – don't us girls just love that?”
6 – Mark Renton “The downside of coming off junk was I knew I would need to mix with my friends again in a state of full consciousness. It was awful. They reminded me so much of myself, I could hardly bear to look at them.”
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Hide Ad7 – Interviewer: “Mr. Murphy, what attracts you to the leisure industry?”
Spud (Ewen Bremner): “In a word: pleasure. It's like, my pleasure in other people's leisure.”
8 – Sick Boy: “All I'm trying to do is help you understand that The Name of the Rose is merely a blip on an otherwise uninterrupted downward trajectory.
Mark Renton: “What about The Untouchables?”
Sick Boy: “I don't rate that at all.”
Renton: “Despite the Academy award?”
Sick Boy: “That means f*** all. The sympathy vote.”
9 – Diane: “You're not getting any younger, Mark. The world's changing. Music's changing. Even drugs are changing. You can't stay in here all day dreaming about heroin and Ziggy Pop.”
Mark Renton: “It's Iggy Pop.”
Diane: “Whatever. I mean, the guy's dead anyway.”
Renton: “Iggy Pop's not dead. He toured last year! Tommy went to see him.”
10 – Mark Renton: “It's s*** being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the f****** earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever s*** into civilisation. Some hate the English. I don't. They're just w******. We, on the other hand, are colonised by w*******. Can't even find a decent culture to be colonised by. We're ruled by effete ass*****. It's a s**** state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any f****** difference.”
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