For the longest time I didn’t know that there was a cinema in the basement of the Scotsman Hotel. When Aarti told me about it, I was very excited to check it out.
I had a picture in my head of one of those private screening rooms that people used to put in their houses, but was pleased to find out that it felt like a proper movie theatre… except with bigger comfier seats.
It was the two year anniversary of the Edinburgh Cinema Meetup Group and the film Trainspotting was chosen by popular vote.
I’d seen it before, but plenty of time had passed so I was a little hazy on some of the details.
It stars Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, and introduced Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald (who is now becoming famous for her role in Boardwalk Empire). It was directed by Danny Boyle and is based on a novel by Irvine Welsh (who has a small cameo in the film).
Welsh is from Leith (where I live), so even though the film is fifteen years old there are plenty of recognizable locations including the worst toilet in Scotland.
This is the Port O Leith Bar, which is out by the shore. Its a little better than it was in Welsh’s day, but I’m told it can still be a pretty rough place.
There is also a scene where the main characters are being chased down Princes street for shoplifting, and I was amazed at how remarkably similar the street looked compared to today.
There are plenty of memorable scenes from the movie, many of them disgusting. One that always freaked me out was Ewan McGregor coming off Heroin after having an overdose. He has some pretty disturbing hallucinations including one where he is being attacked by a dead baby crawling on the ceiling.
However, probably my favourite was the scene where after getting off at one of the most remote train stations in Scotland at Corrour near Loch Ossian, Ewan McGregor’s character gives an awesome speech about what it means to be Scottish.
When I saw the whole rant on a T-shirt, I very nearly bought it.
Wright After Reading 