Trainspotting (film)

Trainspotting is a 1996 black comedy film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh about a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh and their passage through life. It stars Ewan McGregor (as Mark Renton), Ewen Bremner (as Spud Murphey), 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 brief appearance, as drug dealer Mikey Forrester.

Related Topics:
1996 - Black comedy - Danny Boyle - Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh - Heroin - Edinburgh - Ewan McGregor - Ewen Bremner - Jonny Lee Miller - Kevin McKidd - Robert Carlyle - Kelly Macdonald

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The movie's screenplay was adapted from Welsh's novel by John Hodge. Interestingly, the screenplay does not contain any overt references to the non-drug-related hobby of train spotting but instead is a reference to an episode in the original book, where Begbie and Renton encounter Begbie's destitute father in a disused Edinburgh train station, who is apparently just "trainspotting".

Related Topics:
John Hodge - Train spotting

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Its release sparked controversy in some countries, including the UK and USA, as to whether it promoted drug use. U.S. Sen. Bob Dole decried its moral depravity and glorification of drug use during the 1996 presidential campaign, although he admitted that he had not actually seen the film. However, it was generally praised as an inventive, highly effective film, and received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in that year's Academy Awards. In 1999 the film came 10th in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the 4th greatest British film of all time.

Related Topics:
UK - USA - Academy Awards - 1999 - BFI poll - 2004 - Magazine - Total Film

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The film's release was supported by an imaginative 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 photoshoot for the posters, a fact noted often when discussing his relatively lacklustre post-Trainspotting career.

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