TRAINSPOTTING (1996)

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family.Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. . . Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life. But why would I want to do a thing like that?

Don't let your friends tie you to the tracks. . .

Film based on Irvine Welsh's novel, published in 1993, described as "a series of vignettes that track his vast cast of characters through the pubs, clubs and smack dens of Leith".

Renton........Ewan Mcgregor
Begbie...... .Robert Carlyle
Sick Boy......Jonny Lee Miller
Spud..........Ewen Bremner
Diane.........Kelly Macdonald
Tommy.........Kevin McKidd
Gail..........Shirley Henderson


Distributed by Miramax

Director.................Danny Boyle
Producer.................Andrew Macdonald
Screenplay by............John Hodge
Director of Photography..Brian Tufano
Costumes.................Rachael Fleming
Production Designer......Kave Quinn
Editor...................Masahiro Hirakubo

Running time: 90 minutes

Carlyle plays Francis (Franco) Begbie, a psychotic, violent man, who is "clean" from drugs, but whose erratic and aggressive behaviour strikes terror in all who cross his path. Robert chose to play him as a grotesque, cartoon-like figure of violence whose actions become more real and hence more chilling and reprehensible as the film progresses.

Danny Boyle on casting Robert Carlyle:

"Reading the book, everybody has the image of a big guy in mind for Begbie and we did think about Chris Eccleston. But we thought it would be a great idea to have a small guy. We expected Bobby to turn it down, but I think he did it because the book means such a lot in Scotland."

(Quote from NEON February 1998 article on Trainspotting.) Read Robert's comments on creating the character of Begbie.

Visit my listing of scenes cut from Trainspotting

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