Trainspotting Task 1: The Film

Synopsis:
Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor), a young man with few prospects and fewer ambitions, lives in economically depressed Edinburgh. Like most of his friends, Renton is a heroin addict who loves the drug's blissful nothingness; financing his habit also provides excitement and challenges that his life otherwise lacks. Renton's two best friends are also junkies: Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), a snappy dresser obsessed with James Bond, and Spud (Ewan Bremner), a guileless nerd who suggests Pee Wee Herman's debauched cousin. Renton and his pals also hang out with Begbie (Robert Carlyle), a borderline psychotic who loathes junkies even though he drinks like a fish. After one too many brushes with the law, Renton kicks heroin and moves to London, where he finds a job, a flat, and something close to peace of mind. However, Sick Boy, Begbie, and Spud all arrive at his doorstep on the trail of a big score, leading Renton back into drugs and crime.

Trainspotting was directed by Danny Boyle. Other films he has with Channel Four Films are Shallow Grave (1994) and A Life Less Ordinary (1997).
The budget for Trainspotting was £3,500,000.

The film was produced by Channel Four Films (aka Film Four International), Figment Films, PolyGram, The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company.

Despite being set in Edinburgh, almost all of the film was filmed in Glasgow, apart from the opening scenes of the films which was filmed in Edinburgh, and the final scenes were filmed in London.

The main characters of Trainspotting are Ewan McGregor (Marc Renton) who also played Obi-Wan Kanobi in the Star Wars prequel trliogy. After Trainspotting he has become famous on an international scale with the role of the romantic penniless writer Christian in 2001 film Moulin Rouge, I Love You Phillip Morris and Amelia in 2009. The character Spud Murphy is played by Ewen Bremner who has been in other films such as Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. He has not become famous on an international scale. Johnny Lee Miller plays the character Sick Boy and is known well for his role in the film Hackers (1995). He has also been in the film Regeneration (1997) where he played Billy Prior and Complicity with the role of Cameron Colley (2000). Johnny has become famous on an international scale. Character Tommy is played by Kevin McKidd who has also appeared in films such as Kingdom of Heaven, The Last Region, Hannibal Rising, and the starring role in the cult British horror film Dog Soldiers. Tommy has become famous on an international scale. The character Francis Begbie is played by Robert Carlyle who played Gaz in The Full Monty (1997), Plunkett in the 1999 film Plunkett & Macleane, and the role of Daffy in The Beach (2000). Francis has become famous on an international scale.

Trainspotting is distributed by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (worldwide) and Disney (USA). The film was a worldwide success. Trainspotting is a British film from Scotland, a country that is part of the UK. It is set in the capital of the country, Edinburgh.

Trainspotting has received many awards such as British Academy Award for Best Screenplay (Adapted) (John Hodge) , Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film, Brit Award for Best Soundtrack, Bodil Festival Award for Best European Film, BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor (Ewan McGregor).

The controversey that surrounded the film was that it were epitomizing the general coursening of British culture. The London-based Prospect magazine ran a story headlined "Scotland the Sick", which dismissed the film as "Repellent". Many critics found that the film was giving a bad representation of the Scottish working-class culture.