The Granton Star Cause

This latest adaption of an Irvine Welsh story is from his collection of short stories, The Acid House. The story is set in the surroundings established in Trainspotting: by the football pitch, in the pub and in stale bedsits. Irvine Welsh, who has also written the script, appears at the beginning of the film as a caretaker who utters his only line and sets the tone for the whole film: - Fuck! The main character is Boab a modern Gregor Samsa who resignedly lets setback after setback wash over him. He is kicked out of the football team. His parents want him to move away from home immediately so they can fulfill themselves. His boss gives him the sack and, to crown it all, his girlfriend leaves him because he, after four years, still cannot satisfy her sexually. Without a job, a girlfriend or anywhere to live he thinks his life has hit rock bottom. But Boab's problems are only just beginning and without revealing too much I can say that God, an Indian takeaway and one of our commonest insects all play a key role from now on. Cinematically, this 36 minute long film, which was made for Channel 4, is similar to Trainspotting. A documentary feeling is mixed with still images and an eye for grotesque details. Anyone who thought the toilet diving sequence in Trainspotting was too much ought to watch out for a few of the excesses here. It is obvious that Kafka's Metamorphosis is a source of inspiration and The Granton Star Cause creates as much anxiety as Kafka's story, but as so often with Welsh, the film is full of gallows humour and self-knowledge, making it easy to forget the serious undertone. The Scotland depicted by Welsh is a depressed country, lacking in self-confidence, subdued and oppressed by the English for centuries. Boab's resignation is as much Scotland's. Welsh's message to the Scottish is that they should not be satisfied with this, but stand up like a man and point a contemptuous middle finger towards the border in the south. For Welsh fans and admirers of British film in general this is a gem not to be missed. TB