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  • 14 years ago
Prepare to be transported back to the Nineties rave scene with 'Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy'.

The film adaptation of the Welsh's book Ecstasy - the follow up to his hit debut Trainspotting - looks at the highs and lows of substance abuse.

Fittingly the film's world premiere was held at London nightclub Ministry of Sound.

Rob Heydon directed the project and revealed Welsh almost ended up on the big screen:

SOUNDBITE: Director, Rob Heydon, saying (English):

"Well, Irvine read the script, he read a draft, he gave us some notes and then he gave us the thumbs up on a draft that he liked and then he was very supportive of the whole development process and then the first day we started shooting he showed up and we shot a scene with him in it, but it didn't really work in the final cut so we had to cut him out of it."

These faces did not end up on the cutting room floor.

The film stars a relatively unknown cast including Olivia Andrup, Billy Boyd and Adam Sinclair.

Lead actor Sinclair said there is more to the plot than just drugs:

SOUNDBITE: Actor, Adam Sinclair, saying (English):

"It's a love story. That's basically what it is. It's a love story. It just so happens, it's set against the backdrop of this club scene where drugs are taking place. It's a certain culture that goes on in Britain. I mean we're here at the Ministry of Sound, you know dance culture and rave culture has been going on since the early Nineties so it's still very relevant today, but there's a lot, I mean these people go to these clubs and live theses lives. They do so many other different things. Some of them are lawyers, some of them, so it's these characters within that scene so that scene is the backdrop, but yeah ultimately it's a love story."

There have been concerns that the film glorifies drug taking.

Actor Billy Boyd says this is not the case:

SOUNDBITE: Actor, Billy Boyd, saying (English):

"People take drugs because it makes them feel good you know? So whether that drug is ecstasy or heroin like in 'Trainspotting' or whether it's alcohol or tobacco you know we have to discuss it and these stories have to be told -- We can't say 'Oh, we can't make a movie about that cause it's glorifying it'. I don't think it is glorifying it. And you know my character ends up in a mental institution from taking drugs so you saw that there is consequences to those actions, you know."

Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy is out in the UK on April 20 and the US later in the year.

Sarah Mills, Reuters
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