Trainspotting was screened at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival but was shown out of competition,[40] according to the filmmakers, due to its subject.[41] It went on to become the festival's one unqualified critical and popular hit.[42]
The film had previews in the UK on 17 screens, grossing £18,970, before opening on 23 February 1996 in a platform release on 57 screens in the West End of London, Scotland and Ireland, grossing £532,950 in its opening weekend and placing fifth at the UK box office.[43] It was the number one film in London.[44] It expanded nationwide to 245 screens in its third week of release and was the number one film in the UK with a gross of £1,422,906 for the weekend.[45]
By the time it opened in North America, on 19 July 1996, the film had grossed more than $18 million in Britain. It initially opened in eight theatres in the U.S. and Canada and on its first weekend grossed $33,000 per screen.[14] The film expanded to 357 screens and made $16.4 million in North America,[46] one of the biggest grossing films of 1996 in limited release.[47] Trainspotting was the highest-grossing British film of 1996, and at the time it was the fourth highest grossing British film in history.[48] The film grossed £12 million in the UK and $72 million internationally.[49] Based on a cost-to-return ratio, Trainspotting was the most profitable film of the year.[50]
Critical reception
The film has an approval rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 95 reviews collected by the site, with an average score of 8.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A brutal, often times funny, other times terrifying portrayal of drug addiction in Edinburgh. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth viewing as a realistic and entertaining reminder of the horrors of drug use".[51] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[52] In his review for The Guardian, Derek Malcolm gave the film credit for tapping into the youth subculture of the time and felt that it was "acted out with a freedom of expression that's often astonishing."[53] Empire magazine gave the film five out of five stars and described the film as "something Britain can be proud of and Hollywood must be afraid of. If we Brits can make movies this good about subjects this horrific, what chance does Tinseltown have?"[54]
American film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and praised its portrayal of addicts' experiences with each other.[55] In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote, "in McGregor ... the film has an actor whose magnetism monopolizes our attention no matter what".[56] Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Like Scorsese and Tarantino, Boyle uses pop songs as rhapsodic mood enhancers, though in his own ravey-hypnotic style. Whether he's staging a fumbly sex montage to Sleeper's version of "Atomic" or having Renton go cold turkey to the ominous slow build of Underworld's "Dark and Long" ... Trainspotting keeps us wired to the pulse of its characters' passions".[57] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "Trainspotting doesn't have much narrative holding it together. Nor does it really have the dramatic range to cope with such wild extremes. Most of it sticks to the same moderate pitch, with entertainment value enhanced by Mr. Boyle's savvy use of wide angles, bright colours, attractively clean compositions and a dynamic pop score".[58]
Rolling Stone's Peter Travers wrote, "the film's flash can't disguise the emptiness of these blasted lives. Trainspotting is 90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast inject right into the vein".[59] In his review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "Without a doubt, this is the most provocative, enjoyable pop-cultural experience since Pulp Fiction".[60] Jonathan Rosenbaum, in his review for the Chicago Reader, wrote, "Like Twister and Independence Day, this movie is a theme-park ride – though it's a much better one, basically a series of youthful thrills, spills, chills, and swerves rather than a story intended to say very much".[61]
The film's release sparked controversy in some countries, including Britain, Australia and the United States, as to whether or not it promoted and romanticised drug use. U.S. Senator Bob Dole accused it of moral depravity and glorifying drug use during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, although he later admitted that he had not seen the film.[62] Producer of the film Andrew Macdonald responded to these claims in a BBC interview stating "we were determined to show why people took drugs ... you had to show that it was fun and that it was awful" to which Boyle adds "It's the music and humour that makes people feel it's glamorising drugs."[63] Despite the controversy, it was widely praised and received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in that year's Academy Awards. Time magazine ranked Trainspotting as the third best film of 1996.[64]
Legacy
The film had an immediate effect on popular culture. In 1999, Trainspotting was ranked in the tenth spot by the British Film Institute (BFI) in its list of Top 100 British films of all time,[65] while in 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the fourth greatest British film of all time. That same year, Channel 4 named it as the greatest British film of all time.[66] The Observer polled several filmmakers and film critics who voted it the best British film in the last 25 years.[67] In 2004, the film was voted the best Scottish film of all time by the public in a poll for The List magazine.[68] Trainspotting has developed a cult following.[69] It was recognised as an important film during the 1990s British cultural tour de force known as Cool Britannia.[26] It was also featured in the documentary Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop.[70]
The film title is a reference to a scene in the book where Begbie and Renton meet "an auld drunkard" who turns out to be Begbie's estranged father, in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are using as a toilet. He asks them if they are "trainspottin'".[71] This scene is later included as a flashback in T2 Trainspotting.
The music video for the 2019 song "Doorman" by English rapper Slowthai contains several references to the film.[72][73]
Awards
Trainspotting was nominated for two British Academy Film Awards in 1996, Best British Film and John Hodge for Best Adapted Screenplay.[74] Hodge won in his category.[74][75] Hodge also won Best Screenplay from the Evening Standard British Film Awards. The film won the Golden Space Needle (the award for Best Film) at the 1996 Seattle International Film Festival. Ewan McGregor was named Best Actor from the London Film Critics Circle, BAFTA Scotland Awards, and Empire magazine.[75] Hodge was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay but lost to Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade.
