Filmbath Festival 2023 – Trainspotting

Plus Q&A

Does Trainspotting really need any introduction? Anyone who comes to this screening not knowing what they’re in for has surely been living in a cave since 1996. The main reasons to come and watch the film are (in no particular order):
a) You’ve never seen it before.
b) You want to see it again on the big screen.
c) You’re thrilled at the idea of Danny Boyle and John Hodge talking about it.

Anyway, let’s pretend there is a cave-dweller among us and introduce the film. It started life as a book by Irvine Welsh, written in 1993. Boyle and Hodge grabbed the rights to the book and turned it into a relatively low-budget British movie (costing £1.5 million and grossing more than 30 times as much at the box office).

Fuelled by a propulsive soundtrack, an outstanding cast (Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle) and a very smart publicity campaign, the movie was a breakout hit, channelling the frustrated energy of a generation, and a nation (Scotland) that felt their talents were being wasted or overlooked. McGregor was cast to channel Malcolm McDowell’s performance as Alex in A Clockwork Orange – repulsive but with enough charm to make you feel ambivalent about him. Marketed as a UK/Scottish version of Pulp Fiction, the film hit a nerve on both sides of the Atlantic, despite the accents seeming impenetrable to many American audiences.

Now, 27 years later (as opposed to 28 Days Later), Trainspotting is back, and you can see it with fresh eyes in the company of the writer and director behind it. What’s not to like?