Trainspotting
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: John Hodge (screenplay) & Irvine Welsh (book)
Distributed by: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (UK) / Miramax Movies (USA)
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kelly MacDonald & Kevin McKidd
Trainspotting is based on the novel of the same novel by Scottish author Irvine Welsh. The novel is a collection of short stories about various residents of Leith in Edinburgh. Its focus is on their addictions, be it heroin or other dangerous activities.
The synopsis for the movie is as follows:
Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends — Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud, and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can’t escape the life he left behind when Begbie shows up at his front door on the lam, and a scheming Sick Boy follows.
Obviously from the synopsis, this isn’t a movie for the kids or for the family. It’s an adult movie that goes through serious topics and makes the audience question their own sanity. It has a star-studded cast and there are particular scenes that are some of the best to grace the screen.
Whenever Robert Carlyle’s Begbie appears, something horrible should be expected. However, laughter always ensues from his actions as well. Trainspotting is ranked as number 10 in the British Film Institute’s Top 100 British Films of the 20th Century.
