Trainspotting - 1996

Spring 1996 - I was living in the south of England and I had heard a lot about this much talked about, hyped and controversial new film featuring a bunch of Scottish heroin addicts slumming it up in a grim Edinburgh of the mid 1980's.  It was of particular interest to me, being Scottish and with me also having lived in Scotland's capital city for a few years in the mid 1980's also.  Although the film is set in Edinburgh, Trainspotting, for the most part, was largely filmed in Glasgow with other small sequences filmed in both Edinburgh and London, England.

I watched this film, as a naive 15 year old not quite knowing what to expect, largely out of curiosity and to hopefully be entertained.  Well, I was NOT expecting this!  It was shocking, scary, hilarious, violent, exciting, energetic, twisted, tragic and very quotable!

It also features an amazing ensemble cast with career making performances from Scottish actors Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle - ably backed up by the likes of Johnny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, Kevin McKidd, Peter Mullan and featuring a small (debut feature film) role for Kelly Macdonald ("No Country For Old Men", "Boardwalk Empire) who features in a rather uncomfortable role as a school girl - well, I say it's an "uncomfortable role" but what I really mean is that it always makes me feel a little uncomfortable and uneasy, but it was still a memorable role all the same and adds to the film's library of colourful and eccentric characters.

Talking of Robert Carlyle - who plays the role of sociopath Francis Begbie, it appeared to me that this rather violent character seemed to inspire would be violent drunks all over Scotland.  It is one thing quoting some of this character's memorable dialogue, without believing that you actually were a Begbie-like character.  I have actually known some people and been in their company drinking in the past who took great pleasure in quoting Francis Begbie and taking great delight in reliving his on screen antics.  And with alcohol fuelling the fire to these aggressive people's way of thinking, that could only lead to trouble.  But to be honest, these certain people only wish they could actually be Begbie - kinda like expressing their manliness in the only way they know how, by trying to intimidate people and show how hard they can be.  Quite the role model, don't you think???

The music was another big character in this film and its brilliant soundtrack works perfect here too - featuring the likes of Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Pulp, Primal Scream, Sleeper, New Order and Blur - as well as that most iconic of tunes from Underworld; "Born Slippy" that just screams out to me "Trainspotting" every time I hear it.

Based on the original novel (of the same name) by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh (who also has a tiny cameo as drug dealer Mikey Forrester), directed by Danny Boyle ("Shallow Grave", "28 Days Later", "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Beach") with Producer Andrew MacDonald and written for the screen by John Hodge (who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay) - Trainspotting (with age) just gets better and better.  A movie of real guts, style and bravado.   My love for this film appears to be getting stronger with each viewing, a sign of a true modern classic that pulls you in and hits you in the face like a ferocious steam train and leaves you gasping for more - pretty much in the same way I feel about the 1979 British cult classic Quadrophenia and Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973).

Irvine Welsh

"Glorifying drug abuse"?  Yeah, right.  For me, this is most definitely an anti-drug film - that scary downward spiral of drug addiction does not look fun whatsoever to me and leads to absolutely nowhere.  It does, however, make for an amazing movie going experience and (despite the subject matter) is as much a coming of age and uplifting film about friendship as well as the obvious extreme black comedy and controversial themes throughout.

One of the best British films of all time (ranked 10th in a list of 100 by the British Film Institute (BFI) and was also voted as the best Scottish film of all time (2004) in a general public poll.  Although I believe that "Gregory's Girl" is actually the best Scottish film of all time, but I suppose I am a little biased and we'll talk about that film in another blog soon!

There has been ongoing talk of a Trainspotting sequel in the works in the not too distant future and it has been confirmed that Ewan McGregor has agreed to star again as Renton in the follow up to the 1996 classic - so we wait with much anticipation!  Read here for more information.

"choose life..."