Trainspotting

Trainspotting

1996

A group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh lurch between attempts to get clean and the seductive pull of the drug, culminating in a drug deal that offers one of them a chance to escape his old life for good. Danny Boyle's kinetic and darkly funny adaptation of Irvine Welsh's novel became a landmark of 1990s British cinema.

Director

  • Danny Boyle

Cast

  • Ewan McGregor
  • Robert Carlyle
  • Ewen Bremner
  • Jonny Lee Miller
  • Kevin McKidd

Filming Locations

  • Corrour Station

    The remote Corrour station on Rannoch Moor was the setting for Tommy's ill-fated hiking trip, during which Renton delivers his famous 'It's shite being Scottish' monologue.

  • Edinburgh

    The film's opening chase sequence was shot on Princes Street and Calton Road in Edinburgh, with Renton (Ewan McGregor) and Spud fleeing after shoplifting from a bookshop.

  • Glasgow

    The majority of the film was shot in Glasgow, with a disused WD & HO Wills tobacco factory on Alexandra Parade providing around 30 of the film's 50 interior locations, including the pub, bedsit, and other key settings.

  • Kensington

    The West Kensington area was used for the London scenes in which Renton works as an estate agent; his flat at 78A Talgarth Road is where he stashes Begbie and Sick Boy.

  • Volcano, Benalder Street

    The Volcano nightclub on Benalder Street in Partick was where Renton meets the schoolgirl Diane (Kelly Macdonald) on a night out, in a scene featuring period music by Blondie and Heaven 17.