Trainspotting (1996)

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writers:

Irvine Welsh (novel)
John Hodge (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?

Plot:

Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Heroin | Male Frontal Nudity | Defecation | Montgomery Clift

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 18 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Ewan McGregor	...	Renton
Ewen Bremner	...	Spud
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Sick Boy
Kevin McKidd	...	Tommy
Robert Carlyle	...	Begbie
Kelly Macdonald	...	Diane
Peter Mullan	...	Swanney
James Cosmo	...	Mr. Renton
Eileen Nicholas	...	Mrs. Renton
Susan Vidler	...	Allison
Pauline Lynch	...	Lizzy
Shirley Henderson	...	Gail
Stuart McQuarrie	...	Gavin / US Tourist
Irvine Welsh	...	Mikey Forrester
Dale Winton	...	Game Show Host

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic heroin use and resulting depravity, strong language, sex, nudity and some violence.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:16 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Australia:R | Brazil:18 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (DVD rating) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Israel:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R(A) | South Africa:18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Calton Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Cameo: [Irvine Welsh (author)]as Mikey Forrester, Renton's heroin dealer.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Renton, Spud, Begbie and Sick Boy go to London they get their room. The sink in the room does not have a mirror above it. Later, Renton runs water in the sink and looks into the mirror while deciding about running off with the money.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: [narrating] Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking 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 fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked 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?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saw (2004)

Soundtrack:

For What You Dream Of

Superb

An extremely competent look at the Scottish drug-Scene, Trainspotting is a perfect example of the potential of the UK industry to tell a story of tragedy, horror and hope in a manner that the American industry has yet to do without drifting into tired Cliche. While the manner and style of delivery are extremely funny and at times appear almost unreal, the fact remains that these characters are real. The clearly psychotic and alcoholic Begbie, played by Robert Carlyle is a supporting role that is actually of immense value to the film. Here we have character who I've met, you've met and we've all met. A man with very little to lose absorbed in a sea of alcohol and prone to violence. I choose him as example because he isnt even involved in the drug-scene in which the main characters are central. In fact his opposition is somewhat humorous when we consider his own vices make him argueably worse off and the incidences of violence he becomes involved in

are most definitely black humour. Considering what is actually happening isnt funny, watching it play out, aside from one major incident, is extremely funny. And that is the tone of the film throughout, as characters continually talk nonsence and sail through the lives they have chosen, making very little progress, but instead drifting downwards until an opportunity presents itself to change their ways, where upon Renton, Ewan McGregor, must make a choice between his own life or his friends. McGregor himself is excellent in the film that made him, as is Jonny Lee Miller, who surprised me in this film by having a more thought-provoking character than the script and time strictly allowed considering his relatively minimal place in the main storyline. Ewen Bremner provided some excellent and often well-needed comic relief and Carlyle as I mentioned, was outstanding. This film is both real and unreal, taking the Humour of "Human Traffic" and the somber tone of "My name is Joe" and blending them together to create an unforgettable experience vividly accompanied by strains of "Perfect day" and other cultural and nostalgic sounds, particularly of the place and period. Trainspotting has been accused of glamourising drug-use but I firmly believe anyone who takes this view hasnt watched it properly. The fun is equally, if not more so, matched by some nasty images and for the time it was released, provided what was a very necessary look at the growing drug industry, the loss it creates and the hope that can arise. Superb.