Trainspotting recycled
Project Everyone and The Climate Coalition (TCC) launch a dazzling film by Adam Smith that pays tribute to Danny Boyle’s 1996 masterpiece.
)
Credits
View on-
- Production Company RSA Films
- Director Adam Smith | (Director/Animator)
-
-
Unlock full credits and more with a shots membership
Credits
View on- Production Company RSA Films
- Director Adam Smith | (Director/Animator)
- Creative Richard Curtis
- Online Framestore/London
- Sound Design The Noise Bureau
- Music Thirty Two Music
- Producer Emma Cairns
- Editor Mark Whelan
- Colourist Steffan Perry
- Flame Artist Sam Osborne
- Flame Artist Darran Nicholson
- Sound Designer Steve Browell
- Sound Producer Kate Gibson
- Music Clearance Toby Slade-Baker
- VO Kelly Macdonald
Explore full credits, grab hi-res stills and more on shots Vault
Credits
powered by- Production Company RSA Films
- Director Adam Smith | (Director/Animator)
- Creative Richard Curtis
- Online Framestore/London
- Sound Design The Noise Bureau
- Music Thirty Two Music
- Producer Emma Cairns
- Editor Mark Whelan
- Colourist Steffan Perry
- Flame Artist Sam Osborne
- Flame Artist Darran Nicholson
- Sound Designer Steve Browell
- Sound Producer Kate Gibson
- Music Clearance Toby Slade-Baker
- VO Kelly Macdonald
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career… Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning…
"...I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?”
Just a few genius fragments from John Hodge’s screenplay adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting. Accompanied by electrifying visuals of Renton (Ewan McGregor) and crew hurtling around Edinburgh to the beat of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life, it became one of cinema’s most acclaimed opening sequences.
This spectacular video from the RSA Films director Adam Smith reimagines the sequence, pairing Lust for Life with another lyrical monologue voiced by Trainspotting actor Kelly Macdonald. It’s part of the wider Choose Life campaign led by filmmaker and UN Sustainable Goals Advocate Richard Curtis through his non-profit comms agency Project Everyone.
The initiative aims to encourage the British public to sign a declaration putting pressure on the UK government, business leaders and the financial community to commit to taking action on climate change.
Smith says: “For the Choose Life film we “recycled” obscure and contrasting archive including unseen Chemical Brothers concert visuals and varied contributions from directors and artists”. shots' highlights include a curious 'man dances to confused penguins' sequence.
Capturing the zest of the original, it marries such arresting footage with a voiceover, written by Scottish poet Mike Benson, that spins on Trainspotting's ironic musing on the multiple choices we are faced with.
Opening with echoes of Renton’s commentary on consumerism – " the over-heating, over-meating, over depleting” – accompanied by visuals of our destructive, unsustainable choices, the film notes how the pandemic must give us pause to re-evaluate and find a new way to live. Now is the time to change and choose “full moons, lagoons… and life on earth.”
“We set out to be optimistic and energetic in the face of the climate crisis," said Curtis. "We want to rally the British public at a time when the UK government has some huge choices ahead about how it shapes the future of the country. And we want to pay homage to an iconic two minutes of British cinema and harness that spirit of rebellion towards the most important issue of our time.”
The film and subsequent online platform call for bold climate leadership ahead of the UK hosting the UN Climate Summit – COP26 – next year. The platform provides educational resources and guides on ways to Choose Life, from writing to MP’s to finding local Extinction Rebellion groups.
