Trainspotting (plan A)

Edinburgh

in

Trainspotting

Trainspotting

a novel by Irvine Welsh

Published in 1993, and set in the 1980's it is formed by a collection of short stories. These are about, or have relation to, a group of "friends" who are heroin addicts.

The story takes pace in Leith, a district in the north of Edinburgh, where Welsh is from. It is based on his own experience with drug addiction combined with a deep knowledge and experience with Edinburgh's subcultures at the time

The main characters are:

• Mark Renton "Rent Boy", the protagonist
• Simon Williamson "Sick Boy"
• Daniel Murphy "Spud"
• Francis Begbie "Franco"

Trainspotting

a film by Danny Boyle

The novel was adapted to the screen in 1996 by Danny Boyle, apart from having been adapted before for the stage, and became a cult classic.

The film follows a more linear structure than the novel, following Mark Renton in his attempts to quit heroin and his relationships with his friends. The character of Dianne is also introduced, having much more relevance than in the novel.

The costume design, music that invoked youth and energy and experimental cinematic techniques elevated the film from a faithful adaptation to an iconic piece of media of the 90's decade.

Habalr del "choose life" como campaña publicitaria antes de la pelicula y titulo de un docmuental de la BBC despues

Edinburgh in the 80's: Choosing life

Choose life

Heroin and unemployment

The phrase has been widely used in social campaings, mostly about suicide prevention or public health causes. During the 1980's it became common use in the fight against AIDS. In the film, it is used at the beggining and the end, to list everything that a person considered to be succesful should have. Choosing life meant the opposite of the heroin addiction. It represents the evolution of Renton's haracter.

One of the main causes of the hardships Scottish people went through during the 1980's was the effects of the politics of austerity of the Tory party. Said policies included cutbacks in employment and health, which led to an increasing drug abuse.

In Edinburgh, this became a major issue with the number of addicts rising from roughly 100 during the 1970's to more than 5000 during the 1980's.

As a result, increased as well by the decision of cutting off needle supplies to try and stop the spread of addiction, the drug problem became also an AIDS problem.

Scottishness, Britishness and working class

Before the film adaptation, the book had been very popular in Scotland since its publication. It was written in vernacular Scottish accent, which made it somewhat difficualt to understand for people outside of Scotland.

In spite of the film being an acclaimed succes internationally, it still remained very attached to the Scottish sentiment. Pople culd identify with cultural elements being shown. The setting of the film and book were primarily working class environments, the ones mmost affected by heroin.

There is a representation of the Scottish patriotic sentiment, as opposed to the English sentiment, being both a part of the United Kingdom. However, the relationship is complicated, as stated by themonologue by renton about that its shite beig scottish.

Scottish national identity also played a part in the reception of politics made by Mrgaret Thatcher during those years.

Irvine Welsh

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION !!

Bibliography

On drug use and Aids:

Images and videos

National identity

Book cover

Film poster

• Context and relation between Scotishness and Britishness
• novel by Irvine Welsh
• Adaptation to the screen
• Exploration of adicction
• Scottish identity on the text

• Dartmoor
• Stonehenge
• Bath
• Edimburgh

Edinburgh

TRAINSPOTTING