STACK March 2017 Issue 149

24 / 97

W hen we last saw Mark Renton
(Ewan McGregor), he'd just
ripped off his mates to the
tune of 16,000 quid (and Underworld's
'Born Slippy') and was going straight and
choosing life. Now, twenty years later,
he's returned to Edinburgh to look up
old friends, and needless to say it's a
tumultuous homecoming. After saving a
suicidal Spud (Ewen Bremner), who's still
on heroin and a failure as a father, Renton
looks up Sick Boy/Simon (Jonny Lee Miller),
who's now a volatile cokehead running
an extortion racket involving incriminating
videos with prostitute partner Veronika
(Anjela Nedyalkova). Having vented his
initial anger over his mate's betrayal, Sick
Boy offers Renton a partnership in a new
business venture, a high class sauna (read
brothel), and the pair slip back into their
old groove. Then there is the matter of one
Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle), who's still
as psychotic as ever and has just made a
sly prison break, and it's only a matter of
time before he runs into Renton..
Trainspotting was very much a film of
its era; like Quadrophenia, it defined the
UK youth culture and music of the period.
But as Kelly Macdonald's Diane noted
back in '96, "The world is changing, music
is changing, even drugs are changing" and
T2 reveals those changes in a sombre
and lethargic sequel that reflects its now
middle-aged protagonists. The junkie
squalor, scatalogical gags and anarchic
energy are conspicuous by their absence.
So is the propulsive soundtrack that was
an intrinsic part of Trainspotting; the
playlist is more incidental this time. And
where Renton was the narrator and focus
of the first film, T2 divides the screen
time between all four characters and their
respective subplots, and as a result feels
overlong.
There is a lot to like, though. An
impromptu sing-along by Sick Boy and
Renton in a Protestant pub is a highlight,
as is the inevitable confrontation between
Begbie and Renton via some split-screen
genius. The hyper-stylised look is back and
nostalgia and fan service proliferate T2,
with echoes and beats from the original
resonating throughout – an updated
"Choose life" monologue, a Prodigy remix
of 'Lust for Life', and minor characters
returning for a cameo. Sick Boy sums it
up best in a remark to Renton, and the
audience: "Nostalgia, that's why you're
here. You're a tourist in your own youth."
Trainspotting didn't really need a sequel;
Renton's "minor betrayal" was the perfect
ending to a hard act to follow. This mostly
satisfying follow-up doesn't top or equal
the first film, but instead leaves a nagging
sense that these characters were more
interesting as junkies. Scott Hocking
RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Denzel
Washington CAST: Denzel Washington, Viola
Davis, Stephen Henderson RATING: PG
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August
Wilson and set in Pittsburgh in the ‘50s, Denzel
Washington plays Troy Maxton, a larger-than-life
bin-man whose garrulous nature hides some darker
urges that are gradually revealed throughout the
film. Troy was a star baseball player when the sport
was still segregated, which meant he never got
the chance to play in the big league. Consequently,
he is vehemently opposed to his youngest son
Corey (Jovan Adepo) pursuing his dream of playing
college football. He also has conflicting feelings
about his brother Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson), who
suffered brain damage during the war and whose
army disability pension allowed Troy to buy his
home. His devoted wife Rose (Davis), meanwhile,
attempts to keep the peace, but when she discovers
another hidden side to her husband’s life, even
she begins to question her loyalties. Washington
gives a bravura performance as Troy, capturing both
his easy-going charm and tyrannical inclinations,
and Davis is equally as good as his long-suffering
partner. However, his work behind the camera is
less satisfying: there’s an assured tempo to his
direction, but the action is restricted mainly to the
Maxton home – you are never in any doubt that this
is a filmed play. As a cinematic experience, Fences
is not without its flaws, but as a celebration of an
important work of African-American culture it can’t
be faulted. John Ferguson
FENCES
As with most of Martin Scorsese’s movies, Silence is
all about faith, in particular why God remains silent
when suffering is inflicted upon good people, and
balancing your spiritual beliefs with the compromises
needed to live your life. The tortured hero is Father
Sebastian (Andrew Garfield), a devout Portuguese
Jesuit who, together with Father Francisco (Adam
Driver), travels to 17th Century Japan to find their
former mentor, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who
has reportedly renounced his faith following a violent
backlash against Christians by the country’s rulers.
At first the pair succeed in eluding the authorities
while carrying out secret masses for the incredibly
brave Japanese peasants who have defied their rulers
and stayed true to the faith. But when Sebastian is
captured after setting out alone to find Ferreira, a
cruel cat-and-mouse game begins between him and
a wily old Samurai interrogator, who will do anything
to get his prisoner to renounce his religion. Silence is
all about stillness and painterly composition; it looks
superb but with its two and half hour plus running
time, things begin to drag before the end, and an
overly portentous script doesn’t help matters. Despite
its flaws, there's no doubting the passion Scorsese
brings to the work and the film confirms once again
that even when he is not at the top of his game, the
veteran filmmaker remains in a different class than
most of his contemporaries. Ultimately though, Silence
is a film to admire rather than love. John Ferguson
SILENCE
RELEASED: Now Showing DIRECTOR: Martin
Scorsese CAST: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver,
Liam Neeson RATING: MA15+
Choose this mostly satisfying sequel.
T2 TRAINSPOTTING RELEASED: Now Showing
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle
CAST: Ewan McGregor, Jonny
Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle
RATING: R18+
22 MARCH 2017
RATING KEY:
Wow!
Good
Not bad
Meh Woof!
visit CINEMA REVIEWS