In 1993, writer Irvine Welsh
shook the literary world to it’s core with his debut novel Trainspotting, a
frank depiction of a group of individuals in Leith, Edinburgh who are engaged
in recreational drug activity (most specifically heroin) and addictive
behaviour. It was on the longlist for the 1993 Booker Prize, but was purportedly
rejected from the shortlist for “offending the sensibilities of two judges.” In
1996, following on from their previous film Shallow Grave, a low-budget sleeper
hit, director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald and writer John Hodge took
to adapting Welsh’s book in a fashion true to the spirit of the original source
material. Delivering an incredible breakout performance, Shallow Grave’s Ewan
McGregor is cast in the lead role of Mark Renton, and a perfect line up is
assembled to round out the rest of the gang. Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller,
Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Peter Mullan and Welsh himself all play their
parts superbly. For all of the squalor and legitimately provocative things it
has say about drug addiction, urban poverty and the existential crisis’ in the
psyche of the disaffected youth in this particular period of time, the film is
incredibly entertaining. At around the ninety minute mark, this is an endlessly
re-watchable picture that despite containing some horrific moments, is also
outrageously funny and contains an extraordinary degree of dexterity. When it
was released, it was a runaway success, the equivalent of a Molotov cocktail to
the establishment, both in terms of the film industry and society as a whole.
All done to a rousing soundtrack, this was an energetic, heart-pumping pop
culture phenomenon the likes of which had never been seen before and perhaps
will never be seen again. It captures a particular and unique moment in our
history, our zeitgeist, and the universal connection that many of us have to
this film is a testament to its lasting strength and power.
