Franco quotes from T2 Trainspotting (2017)

Hello, Franco.

Simon.

But you're not...

I'm out.

"Out"?

Aye. **** shut up.

Yeah, sorry if I seemed a little shocked to see you, Frank. It's just... Well, I was gonna... I was gonna deal with this myself and then give you the good news, but... You're not gonna believe this. So, two days ago, I got a call from an old friend of mine. Gav Temperly. You remember him?

Aye.

Anyway. He's on business in Amsterdam. And he's in a café one morning, and he hears this voice beside him. A whiny, ****y voice.

No.

So he turns around, right? This is two **** days ago. I'm just getting over it myself. There he is.

Holy **** moly.

Hasn't changed in 20 years. Very same smug, little ****y grin across his ugly face.

For ****'s sake!

Aye, Renton. Mark **** Renton. Living in Amsterdam all this time on our money.

****. Did Renton clock him?

No. So Gav followed him. He went into an office block not far from the center of town. And Gav had to split then, but he's gonna go back. He's gonna hang out, he's gonna follow Renton home, and then...

And we're gonna pay him a visit.

Exactly.

I need a passport.

I can get you one. I'll take some weapons. Well, we can probably get weapons there, Franco.

Aye. Probably. They've got that kind of stuff in Amsterdam, eh?

Aye. Now, the important thing is for you to keep your head down. Low profile till the passport comes through, till I get the tickets. 'Cause this is an opportunity, Frank.

Right.

I'm gonna **** tear him to pieces.

You most definitely **** will.

Simon and I do not sleep together.

No? I had wondered.

Once, but...

This is the renovation and conversion of an iconic Leith building. We see it very much as being an artisanal bed-and-breakfast experience. A destination in its own right. Artworks by local artists on the walls. Locally sourced fresh food. Outreach programs to inspire children in school to think outside the box. To inspire in them a belief that... Yes, they can. There was a time when this port served thousands of ships around the globe. Now it can rise again. And we believe our business will occupy a central role, both physically and emotionally, at the heart of this new wave of regeneration in Leith.

Leith 2.1.

Exactly.
...

We used to steal all this stuff. Fancy wallpaper. Sell on to the middle classes and that. Me and Mark used to steal all kinds of stuff, actually. Till we got caught. He got off. I got six months. Still, you find out what you're good at inside. Signatures... That's what I found out. Anyone's. If I seen it once, I can do it. So, when I got out, "Bye-bye, shoplifting. Hello, checkbook. Hello, check card. Up to Western Union. Signature, cash in hand. Up to Swanney's, pay off my debts, buy some skag. I was a portable **** goldmine.

Veronika

So, what happened?

Chip and PIN, debit cards, e-banking. Billionaires moving money at the touch of a button. There's no room for an honest artisan like me anymore.

Veronika

So, what did you do?

Back on the pavement. Seven days a week.

Veronika

I like your stories. I think you should write them down.

You think?

Veronika

Yeah. Just write them the way you say them. They're funny. I would like to read them. Mark and Simon can help.

"Tommy looks well. It's terrifying. He's gonna die. Sometime between the next few weeks and the next 15 years, Tommy will be no more. Chances are that I'll be exactly the same. Difference is we know this with Tommy. Tommy cannot get out.

He cannot afford to heat his home, put himself in a bubble, live in the warm, eat good fresh food, keep his mind stimulate with new challenges. He will only live five or 10 or 15 years before he is crushed. Tommy will not survive winter in West Granton."
...

Well, I'm trying hard, Mark, but I'm not feeling anything. We were young. Bad things happened. It's over. Can we go home now?

Two hours to the next train.

Oh, for ****'s sake.

Look, we're here as an act of memorial.

Nostalgia. That's why you're here. You're a tourist in your own youth. Just 'cause you had a near-death experience, and now you're feeling all fuzzy and warm. What other moments will you be revisiting? Here's a good one. How about the time you sold Tommy his very first hit, leading him on to heroin addiction, HIV infection, and ultimately his death at the age of... What was it, 22, 23?

Twenty-three.

Twenty-three. How innocent was that?

Aye, that's mine. How's yours?

Don't know what you're talking about.

She'd be a woman by now. Maybe kids of her own. But she never got that far, did she? Never got to lead her life. Because her father, someone who should have been looking after her, protecting his own infant, was too busy filling his own veins with heroin to check that she was breathing properly. How do you keep a lid on that one?

Well, that's that, then. Here we go.

****'s sake.
...

All right, doll.

Thanks.

Looking good, baby.

Not bad yourself, daddy-o.

Why, bring it over here.

Really?

I'm not wearing any knickers.

For ****'s sake. Well, tell you what... Just away for a piss. Back in a moment. We'll see what's happening, okay?

All right, then.

Aye.

All right, Murphy?

Franco.

Sit down, sit down. Now... So where is he? Don't say, "Who? Don't say, "I don't know." Just **** tell me where he is. Still a junkie, Murphy?

No. I'm clean now, Frank.

You? Clean? **** joke. [Observing yellow pages taped to the wall] What is all this shit anyway?!

It's just, like, stories and that.

"Stories"? What are you writing stories for? Who's gonna read shit written by a **** like you?

Just thought maybe my grandchildren, or...

You got grandchildren?

No.

What you writing **** stories for them for?! They may not even like stories! You thought of that?!

No. That's a good point, Franco.

"The sweat was lashing off Sick Boy." Sick... Sick Boy? What, is it about him?!

It's about all of us, like.

All of you?! About me?!

No, not about you.

**** better not be. "Strolling Through the Meadows." Here, [Hands page to Murphy] read it.

What?!

Read it!

Strolling Through the Meadows. The pubs, like, dead busy. It's full o' loco-locals and festival types. 'Cause the festival was going on, see, in the story. They're all having a little snort before heading off to the next show. Beg... Beg... I was definitely gonna cut this bit out, Frank.

Well, **** read it.

Begbie's pissed his jeans.

I remember that night. Read on.

What?

Read on. Read on.

The boy, likes, just wouldn't hand over the wallet, even when Begbie pulled the knife, like. The last words I heard the dude say was, You won't use that. Begbie went **** crazy, got, like, that carried away with the bladework, you know. We nearly forgot the wallet, likes. Blood was flowing into the latrine, mixing with the piss.

Blood. Mixing with the piss. It was an ugly sight, man. Murphy. You've got hidden talents, man.

Then it happens. All I did was put a pint of Export in front of Begbie. He takes one **** gulp out o' it. Then he throws the empty glass from his last pint straight over the balcony in a casual backhand motion. The glass crashes down on this girl's head, which splits open as she falls to her knees. Begbie's on his feet and we're racing down the stairs, and he shouts... [Franco rises up and passionately re-enacts the scene speaking in unison with Murphy] That lady got glassed! And no **** leaves here till I find out what **** did it."

That is lovely. What else have you got? What's this? What's this? London, London. Renton had never seen so much money. He stole the money. Took it from his friends."

What? No, that is just a story, that one. That is just a little story. Renton felt no sympathy for Begbie. No. Renton's real guilt was for Spud. He loved Spud. Spud had never hurt anybody. If there was one person whom Renton would try to compensate, it was Spud."

"Compensate"? I'm only gonna **** ask you this once. How much money did he leave you?

£4,000. Left it in a locker.

Well, you didn't **** tell us that at the time.

I'm sorry, Franco.

Don't **** move.

I did steal the money, but they shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, we stole from all sorts of people. Shops, businesses, neighbors, family. Friends was just one more class of victim. In the morning, when you were gone with my money, I was furious, but also I thought,

"'Course he's taken it. "Why wouldn't he?"

Daniel?

It's me. I'm not here.

What do you mean, you're not here?

Go! Veronika, you cannot be here. Please. It's not safe for you, kitten-cat. You got to vamoose.

What happened?

Tell Mark. Tell Simon. They need to run quick. The Beggar is on the loose. Please, Veronika, he'll be back at any minute.

Who will be back? [Franco appears in doorway]

Well, well, well. Rescue. This your bird, Murphy?

Please, Franco, leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this. [Franco forces Veronika up against a wall with his face menacing hers]

'Course she hasn't. What would she be doing with an ugly **** like you? What's your name, doll?

Veronika.

Veronika. Well, that's lovely. And how do you know Mr. Murphy here?

Simon.

Simon? Good old Simon. And what about Simon's very best friend? You know him and all? You got a phone?

A phone?

Aye. A mobile phone. You know the kind of thing.

Yes.

Give it.

But you have to let us go. Both of us.
...

Another?

No, I'm fine.

Where are you going? You shouldn't be out in this neck of the woods, kitten-cat.

I have a plan for us.

What?

We went for a piss in the old Leith Central Station. Me, Renton and Begbie. Place was empty, soon to be demolished. Some size o' station this was. Used to be steam engines to all over from here. Choo-****-choo! An old drunkard, whom Begbie had been looking at, lurched up to us, wine bottle in his hand. What're you up to, lads, eh? Trainspotting? In Leith Central? He says, laughing. I noticed Begbie seemed strangely subdued and uncomfortable. They **** turn it on for you. **** shit-bag! It was only then I realized the old wino was Begbie's father. First, there is an opportunity. And then, there's a betrayal. And that's how it ends.