It has been 15 years since
Danny Boyles seminal movie
Trainspotting, based on Irvine Welshs book, was released and last week I attended a special screening of the film in Edinburgh put together by VWs
See Film Differently project. In the past few months they have also arranged screenings of An American Werewolf in London in London Zoo and Get Carter in a Newcastle Racecourse, both locations memorably featured in their individual films. The Trainspotting screening was held at the Royal Scottish Academy, a gallery in the city centre that can be spotted in the background of one shot in the movie. There was something slightly perverse about watching a movie like Trainspotting in an art gallery, it being the type of place that would turn away some or all of the characters from the movie at the door. Furthermore while the famous opening scene was filmed on Edinburghs Princes Street (notice how everyone in the background is standing watching them filming)...
... the majority of the movie was filmed in Glasgow. I was about to point this out to someone when I saw the free food and refreshments stand. Beer; Irn Bru; fish supper (supper is Scottish for and chips); haggis, neeps and tatties. This, along with the cheerful atmosphere in the screening room, negated any sense of elitism associated with such a location; the audience, most of whom had probably seen the movie several times, was determined to have a good time. Ive seen the movie many times, being Scottish and just young enough when it came out both to want to see it and to know that it was definitely not suitable for me (a friend got hold of a copy on video). It was almost certainly the most explicit movie I had seen to that point, in its language (that lassie got glassed, and no cunt leaves here till we find out what cunt did it), sexual frankness and representation of drugs. The movie is still accused of glamorising drugs, although to me its never made heroin look anything but a nightmare; the tragedy and horrors involved are all right there (the overdose, withdrawal, Tommys death, and most disturbing of all, the scenes involving the baby). Its just that Boyle doesnt feel the need to sentimentalise these moments or over-dramatise the tragedy.
Having never seen the movie projected before I was struck again by the energy that Boyle brought to the project, particularly in its first half-hour. The use of music and editing here are superb, from the opening scene (which was moved from the middle to the front to allow the movie literally to hit the ground running) to the hilarious/hideous morning-after sequence. It also underlines its irreverent attitude, with shots like the famous image of protagonist Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) climbing out of the worst toilet in Scotland after diving in to fish out his opium suppositories. The movie can, broadly and probably unnecessarily, be split roughly into three acts, the first introducing us to the day-to-day lives of the volatile characters, the second exploring the darker side of addiction (the withdrawal scene still ranks with Boyles best work), and the third concerning Rentons attempts to get away and choose life. Ive always felt that the movie loses some of its momentum when it gets to London, in the last section, although the energy of the first hour was always going to be difficult to sustain.
Another standout feature is how well cast the picture is.
Ewan McGregor is probably too handsome for Renton as described in the book, but he had both the right gaunt figure and cockiness for the part; when he and Spud (Ewen Bremner) are both arrested he gets the lighter sentence; one suspects he generally gets by, or tries to, on his charm. Kelly McDonald, who is these days working with the likes of the Coens and Scorsese, was young and unknown enough to pass as a young teenager who could pass as a young adult; shes the only person who can stump Renton. Bremner and Robert Carlyle, as borderline psycho Begbie, are perfect. They made their roles totally their own while representing archetypes; its not too difficult to find a Begbie or a Spud in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Jonny Lee Miller, the only non-Scot, holds his own with the nationals, making Sick Boy even cockier and more opinionated than Renton. Finally Kevin McKidd has the right kind of vulnerable honesty as Tommy, who starts out as the most straight-laced of the gang. If McKidd did less well out the movie than the others, I wonder if this isnt a direct result of the fact that he wasnt on the poster (he was on holiday when it was made). After the screening, we were invited to a special exhibition of stills and publicity material at the Ingleby Gallery (just on the left through the tunnel glimpsed at the start of the movie, allowing us to recreate Rentons run down the steps). There I was reminded how good the marketing campaign for the movie was: its poster, along with Pulp Fiction must rank as one of the most iconic of the 90s, and the way it focussed on introducing the characters, rather than the plot, helped fix them in peoples minds. 15 years on the movie still feels fresh; I dont think a movie as good has been made in Scotland since. Its firmly a product of the 90s, of course, but that doesnt take away anything, and the (defiantly non-touristy) glimpses of Edinburgh (and Glasgow) both show whats changed (the John Menzies Renton robs at the start is long gone, as is the club where he picks up Diane) and what has remained (Pilton in Edinburgh is still referred to sometimes in English papers as the Trainspotting suburb of Edinburgh). The problems associated with heroin Edinburgh has a history with the drug going back to the 19th century and other hard drugs are still vividly present, although Im told that many younger people are put off heroin because theyve seen what it did to the generation before them: the so-called Trainspotting generation of addicts who are now entering middle-age and are, according
to an excellent 2009 Guardian piece, still dying off, including many who gave up the drug. I suspect part of the reason the movie has lasted is because it doesnt patronise; it doesnt need to keep telling us that heroin can ruin your life. Even when I saw it as a kid I knew that. What it did do was have the balls to show heroin addicts that young people in the audience could identify with.