Trainspotting (film)

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Trainspotting

Original UK release poster
Directed by Danny Boyle
Produced by Andrew Macdonald
Written by Novel:
Irvine Welsh
Screenplay:
John Hodge
Starring Ewan McGregor
Jonny Lee Miller
Robert Carlyle
Ewen Bremner
Kevin McKidd
Kelly Macdonald
Music by Damon Albarn, Lou Reed, Sleeper, Underworld, Primal Scream, Pulp, Iggy Pop, New Order, Elastica, Leftfield, Brian Eno, Blur, Bedrock featuring KYO, others
Cinematography Brian Tufano
Editing by Masahiro Hirakubo
Distributed by Miramax Films (US)
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (worldwide)
Release date(s) 23 February 1996
Running time 94 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £3,500,000
Gross revenue £8,892,946

Trainspotting is a 1996 British film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in early 1990s economically-depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. The film stars Ewan McGregor as Mark Renton, Ewen Bremner as Spud, Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy, Kevin McKidd as Tommy, Robert Carlyle as Begbie and Kelly Macdonald as Diane. Author Irvine Welsh also has a cameo appearance as hapless drug dealer Mikey Forrester.

The Academy Award-nominated screenplay, by John Hodge, was adapted from Welsh's novel. It does not contain any references to the non-drug-related hobby of train spotting. The title is a reference to an episode in the original book (not included in the film) where Begbie and Renton meet "an auld drunkard", who turns out to be Begbie's estranged father, in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are visiting to use as a toilet. He asks them if they are "trainspottin'".[1] The title also relates to obsessive behavior (drug addicts obsess about getting their next fix just as trainspotters obsess about collecting train numbers) and to a slang term to inject heroin or "Mainline" it. Beyond drug addiction, other concurrent themes in the film are exploration of the urban poverty and squalor, in 'culturally rich' Edinburgh[2]

The film has since developed a cult following[3] and has been ranked 10th spot by the British Film Institute (BFI) in its list of Top 100 British films of all time.[4] It was also part of a cluster of motion pictures that some[who?] claimed glamorized the gritty lifestyle of opiate addiction to a mainstream audience and also included Pulp Fiction (1994) and The Basketball Diaries (1995). The film was rated an 18 in Britain for it contains very strong language, strong violence, sex and graphic depictions of intravenous drug use.

Contents

[edit] The plot

Set in Edinburgh, the film begins with a narration from Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) while he and his friend Spud (Ewen Bremner) run down Princes Street pursued by security guards. Renton states that unlike people who "choose life" (i.e. a traditional family lifestyle with children, financial stability and material possessions), he and his friends have opted out of career-based pursuits that society deems worthwhile, preferring to live in a blissful, directionless heroin-addled mess. We are introduced to his friends: smooth player Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), awkward hanger-on Spud (Ewen Bremner), clean-cut footballer Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and violent sociopath Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Sick Boy, Spud and Renton are all heroin addicts, while Tommy and Begbie openly criticise heroin use. In the second scene, Renton decides to quit heroin. He buys opium rectal suppositories which he uses right away, but has to retrieve them from a filthy toilet when he is struck with diarrhea. After this 'final hit' he locks himself into a room to undergo withdrawal.

After quitting heroin, Renton still struggles. His "friendship" with Begbie is illustrated when Begbie casually throws his pint glass off a bar balcony, injuring a woman and causing a violent brawl. Renton later joins his friends and goes to a dance club in pursuit of sex. Spud gets drunk and is dragged home by his girlfriend, Gail. When Gail tries to have sex, Spud passes out and defecates all over her bed. Tommy goes home with his girlfriend Lizzy but this results in a violent argument when they discover that a sex tape they had made of themselves has gone missing (in an earlier scene we saw Renton steal the tape). Tommy mistakenly believes he accidentally returned the video to the rental store — this eventually causes Lizzy to break up with him.

At the club, Renton flirts with a girl named Diane (Kelly Macdonald), who quickly dissects his bad chat-up lines, but takes him home anyway. After the two have sex, Diane refuses to let Renton sleep in her bed - the next morning Renton discovers that this is because Diane is actually a schoolgirl living with her parents and under the age of sexual consent. Diane then blackmails him into staying in contact lest she call the police and inform them of their one-night stand.

Tired of sobriety, Sick Boy, Spud and Renton decide to get back on heroin. Through a montage we see them taking and dealing drugs and stealing to fund their habit. Renton narrates that he and his mates tried all chemicals available in the streets, claiming "we would've injected Vitamin C if only they'd made it illegal." Depressed after having been dumped by his girlfriend, Tommy also takes up heroin - Renton reluctantly supplies him with the drug. Their heroin-induced stupor is violently interrupted when Allison - a fellow junkie - discovers that her baby daughter, Dawn, has died from neglect - Dawn had stayed in the flat with them but they had been too high to look after her (Dawn's distorted wails can be heard over the preceding drug montage). All are shocked and feel terrible — most of all Sick Boy, who is revealed to be the father - however they continue to take heroin, seeing no other option available to them. Renton and Spud are later caught stealing from a shop and are pursued by security guards and captured, as seen in the opening scene of the film. Spud is given a prison sentence but Renton avoids punishment by enlisting in a Drug Interventions Programme where he is put through a gradual rehabilitation and supplied with the heroin substitute methadone.

Despite support from his friends and parents, Renton is continually depressed and ends up back in the flat of his dealer Swanney (Peter Mullan) after running away from rehab. He takes too much heroin and overdoses - Swanney puts him in a taxi and the driver leaves him on the ground outside a hospital, where his life is saved. Seeing no other option, Renton's parents take him home and lock him in his own bedroom to beat the addiction cold turkey. Renton lies in his bed and goes through severe withdrawal symptoms, and sees several hallucinations, including Begbie threatening to "kick [the heroin] out" of his system, Spud in chains and a drug addicted and diseased Tommy. Finally Renton sees Dawn, Allison's dead baby, crawling toward him on the ceiling while he screams and cries for his mother. This is intercut with a bizarre imagined TV game show in which the host Dale Winton asks Renton's mother and father" "Is he guilty… or not guilty?".

Clean of heroin, Renton feels no purpose in life. He visits Tommy, who had tested positive for HIV, in his dark and filthy apartment. On the advice of Diane, Renton moves to London and starts a job as a property letting agent. He continues his sobriety while enjoying the vibrancy of London and saving up money on the side, while corresponding with Diane. His happiness is again short-lived — Begbie commits armed robbery and arrives at Renton's London flat seeking a hiding place from the police. Sick Boy also shows up and Renton feels increasingly frustrated that he cannot turn his "mates" away, despite the fact that they steal from him, wreck his flat and are a general nuisance. Seeking to be rid of them, he puts them up in a property he is responsible for until they learn of Tommy's death from toxoplasmosis and travel back to Scotland for his funeral.

Back in Edinburgh, they meet Spud, who has been released from prison. Sick Boy suggests a large and dangerous opportunity for them; the chance to buy two kilos of heroin for £4,000 and travel back to London to sell it for up to £20,000. Sick Boy needs Renton's help to afford the initial £4,000 and after they buy it Begbie makes Renton inject some of the heroin to make sure that it is good. The four travel to London and sell the heroin to a professional heroin dealer for £16,000. They go to a pub to celebrate but Begbie, in a fit of misguided anger, savagely attacks a fellow drinker. As his friends try to stop this, Begbie accidentally slices Spud's hand open with a knife. Renton is already considering taking all the £16,000 for himself and this incident convinces him to steal the money from his mates, who, he has come to understand, are not his mates at all.

Early the next morning, Renton pulls the bag of money away from a sleeping Begbie. Spud wakes up and sees this happening but remains silent as Renton leaves. Narrating, Renton vows to live the stable, traditional life he described at the beginning of the film as he walks through London in the sunrise. When Begbie awakes and discovers the money is missing, he smashes apart the room in a rage — the last time we see him, police are banging on his door and he is pulling out a knife. In the final scene, Spud later finds £2000 left for him by Renton in a locker.[5][6]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Other versions

Upon its initial release in the United States, the first 20 minutes of Trainspotting were re-edited with alternate dialogue. Because of the strong Scottish accents and language of the characters, it was believed that American audiences might have difficulty understanding them. The original dialogue was later restored on the Criterion Collection laser disc in 1997 and then on the re-release of the "Director's Cut (The Collector's Edition)" DVD in 2004.

[edit] Filming locations

Despite being set in Edinburgh, almost all of the film was filmed in Glasgow, apart from the opening scenes of the film which were filmed in Edinburgh, and the final scenes which were filmed in London.[7]

Notable locations in the film include:

  • The iconic opening scene showing Renton and Spud being chased by store detectives was filmed on Princes Street, Edinburgh.[7] A scene showing the actual theft was filmed in the music department of the since-closed John Menzies, also on Princes Street, but did not make the final cut.
  • The scene where the chase ends is on Calton Road, Edinburgh, near the rear entrance of Waverley Station.
  • The park where Sick Boy and Renton discuss James Bond, Sean Connery, and The Name of the Rose is Rouken Glen Park, near Thornliebank. The park was also the site of the grave in Boyle's previous film Shallow Grave.[7]
  • Corrour railway station is the setting for the "great outdoors" scene in the film.[7]
  • The flat that Renton shows the young couple around when he gets the job as an estate agent and ultimately stashes Begbie and Sickboy in is 78A Talgarth Road at North End Road, London, opposite West Kensington tube station, part of the A4 road.[7]
  • The scenes where they do their drug deal takes place in Bayswater. The scene where they parody The Beatles Abbey Road takes place as they walk out of Smallbrook Mews across Craven Road to the Royal Eagle, 26–30 Craven Road, Bayswater.[7]
  • The school attended by Diane is Jordanhill in Glasgow's West End.[7]

[edit] Soundtracks

Main article: Trainspotting (soundtrack)

The Trainspotting soundtracks were two best-selling albums of music centered around the film. The first is a collection of songs featured in the film, while the second includes those left out from the first soundtrack and extra songs that inspired the filmmakers during production.

[edit] Reaction

US release poster. After worldwide success of the film, Welsh's novel, Trainspotting, acquired a much greater cult status

Trainspotting was screened at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival but was shown out of competition because, according to the filmmakers, of its subject matter.[8] However, it went on to become the festival's one unqualified critical and popular hit.[9] The film made ₤12 million in the domestic market and $72 million internationally.[10] By the time it opened in North America, on 19 July 1996, the film had made more than $18 million in the UK. It initially opened in 8 theaters and on its first weekend grossed $33,000 per screen.[11] The film finally made $16.4 million in North America.[12]

[edit] Critical reception

In the United Kingdom, Trainspotting garnered almost universal praise from critics. In his review for The Guardian, Derek Malcolm gave the film credit for actually tapping into the youth subculture of the time and felt that it was "an extraordinary achievement and a breakthrough British film".[13] Empire magazine gave the film five out of five stars and described the film as "something Britain can be proud of and Hollywood must be afraid of. If we Brits can make movies this good about subjects this horrific, what chance does Tinseltown have?"[14]

American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and praised its portrayal of addicts' experiences with each other.[15] In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote, "in McGregor ... the film has an actor whose magnetism monopolizes our attention no matter what".[16] Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Like Scorsese and Tarantino, Boyle uses pop songs as rhapsodic mood enhancers, though in his own ravey-hypnotic style. Whether he's staging a fumbly sex montage to Sleeper's version of Atomic or having Renton go cold turkey to the ominous slow build of Underworld's Dark and Long ... Trainspotting keeps us wired to the pulse of its characters' passions".[17] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "Trainspotting doesn't have much narrative holding it together. Nor does it really have the dramatic range to cope with such wild extremes. Most of it sticks to the same moderate pitch, with entertainment value enhanced by Mr. Boyle's savvy use of wide angles, bright colors, attractively clean compositions and a dynamic pop score".[18] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "the film's flash can't disguise the emptiness of these blasted lives. Trainspotting is 90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast inject right into the vein".[19] In his review for the Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "Without a doubt, this is the most provocative, enjoyable pop-cultural experience since Pulp Fiction".[20] Jonathan Rosenbaum, in his review for the Chicago Reader, wrote, "Like Twister and Independence Day, this movie is a theme-park ride--though it's a much better one, basically a series of youthful thrills, spills, chills, and swerves rather than a story intended to say very much".[21]

Its release sparked some controversy in some countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, as to whether it promoted drug use or not. U.S. Senator Bob Dole accused it of moral depravity and glorifying drug use during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, although he later admitted that he had not actually seen the film. Despite the controversy, it was widely praised and received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in that year's Academy Awards. Time magazine ranked Trainspotting as the third best film of 1996.[22] In 1999, the film came 10th in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the fourth greatest British film of all time.

The film's release was supported by a marketing campaign using flyers inspired by rave culture and posters of each of the main actors. Owing to illness, Kevin McKidd went on holiday having finished shooting for the film and did not attend the photo shoot for the posters.

Trainspotting has a 89% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 83 metascore on Metacritic.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Parodies

  • The film has been parodied in The Simpsons in the episode "The Regina Monologues". Bart and Lisa Simpson, on their sugar rush, parody Renton's cold turkey hallucinations and also the opening chase. There is also a Treehouse of Horror episode where Homer, after being possessed, crawls up the bedroom wall, onto the ceiling, where his head rotates 180 degrees, like the baby. He then falls onto the bed, relaxed.
  • An episode of Family Guy named "Love Thy Trophy", includes a scene where Stewie Griffin undergoes withdrawal from pancakes much like Renton's in the film. Stewie, at one point, sees himself crawling across the ceiling to look down on him in a parody of the appearance of Allison's baby (complete with the Exorcist-style head turn).
  • A sketch on Channel 4's Adam and Joe Show features a parody of the opening sequence (called "Toytrainspotting"), 'acted out' by toys who are addicted to sherbet.
  • In an episode of Drawn Together where Xandir, Toot Braunstein and Wooldoor Sockbat all get addicted to licking Ling-Ling, Wooldoor is put in a room to get over the addiction cold turkey. Like the film, there is loud music, very fast editing and, ultimately, a parody of the baby on the ceiling (which is Bam-Bam from The Flintstones).
  • In a sketch on Chappelle's Show crack addict Tyrone Biggums escapes an intervention from friends by passing through a toilet much like Renton does.
  • In the comic Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, Scott assures his friend Wallace that his "relationship" with a high-school girl is "just like" in Trainspotting, before Wallace points out several obvious flaws in this argument, (i.e. Renton being coerced into dating Diane, and his anxiety about her being underaged,) suggesting that Scott had missed the point somewhat.

[edit] Sequel

Boyle has stated his wish to make a sequel to Trainspotting which will take place nine years after the original film, based on Irvine Welsh's sequel, Porno. He is reportedly waiting until the original actors themselves age visibly enough to portray the same characters, ravaged by time; Boyle joked that the natural vanity of actors would make it a long wait. Ewan McGregor has stated in interviews that he would not like to make a sequel, due to his preference for being remembered for the critically acclaimed first film, and not an inferior sequel. [24]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Walsh, 1997, Trainspotting, p. 309.
  2. ^ Genres in transition British National Cinema, by Sarah Street, Published by Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0415067359. Page 111.
  3. ^ Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since the Sixties, by Ali Catterall, Simon Wells. Published by Fourth Estate, 2002. ISBN 0007145543. Page 233.
  4. ^ Trainspotting British Film Institute (BFI)
  5. ^ "Must-have movies: Trainspotting (1996)". The Daily Telegraph. 9 September 2005. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/09/09/bfmust09.xml. 
  6. ^ Lasalle, Mick (26 July 1996). "'TRAINSPOTTING' NEEDS A FIX:But darkly comic tone of heroin-addiction film sets it apart]". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=//chronicle/archive/1996/07/26/DD40142.DTL. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Filming Locations for Trainspotting". Movie-locations.com. http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/t/trainspotting.html. Retrieved on 2008. 
  8. ^ Power, Carla; Thomas, Dana (15 July 1996). "Track Stars". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/108146. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  9. ^ Ressner, Jeffrey (27 May 1996). "All You Need is Hype". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984611,00.html. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  10. ^ Petrie, Duncan J (2004). "Contemporary Scottish Fictions--Film, Television, and the Novel: Film, Television and the Novel". Edinburgh University Press. pp. 101-102. 
  11. ^ Gordinier, Jeff (2 August 1996). "Stupor Heroes". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293580,00.html. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  12. ^ "Trainspotting". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=trainspotting.htm. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  13. ^ Malcolm, Derek (22 February 1996). "Trainspotting". The Guardian. http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,530807,00.html. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  14. ^ Jeffries, Neil. "Trainspotting". Empire. http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132350. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger (26 July 1996). "Trainspotting". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19960726/REVIEWS/607260303/1023. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  16. ^ Turan, Kenneth (19 July 1996). "Trainspotting". Los Angeles Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie960719-5,0,6595973.story. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  17. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (19 July 1996). "Trainspotting". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293364,00.html. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  18. ^ Maslin, Janet (19 July 1996). "Bad Taste in a Vile Story Doesn't Rule Out Fun". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9F07EEDA1F39F93AA25754C0A960958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  19. ^ Travers, Peter (8 August 1996). "Trainspotting". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5947253/review/5947254/trainspotting. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  20. ^ Howe, Desson (26 July 1996). "Trainspotting: A Wild Ride". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/trainspottinghowe.htm. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  21. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (26 July 1996). "Too High to Die". Chicago Reader. http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/0896/08026.html. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  22. ^ "The Best of Cinema 1996". Time. 23 December 1996. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985745,00.html. Retrieved on 16 April 2009. 
  23. ^ Awards Internet Movie Database.
  24. ^ "Scotsman.com News". News.scotsman.com. 13 January 2009. http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=536452007. Retrieved on 3 April 2009. 

[edit] References

  • Smith, Murray (2002). Trainspotting. BFI Publishing. ISBN 139780851708706. 
  • Welsh, Irvine (1997). Trainspotting. Minerva. ISBN 139780749385200. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Films directed by Danny Boyle
1990s
Shallow Grave (1994) • Trainspotting (1996) • A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
2000s
The Beach (2000) • 28 Days Later (2002) • Millions (2004) • Sunshine (2007) • Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
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