Paul Sng's documentary about Irvine Welsh reveals unexpected depths beneath the Trainspotting creator's public persona. The intimate portrait shows Scotland's most celebrated living writer with characteristic unassuming athletic ease, looking remarkably well despite decades of documented substance use.
Welsh emerges as Edinburgh's greatest living cultural figure, his journey from a 1960s childhood in Leith and Muirhouse forming the documentary's backbone. After a spell in London, his twentysomething years back in Edinburgh during the 1980s saw him studying at Heriot-Watt and working for the council while beginning to write.
Athletic prowess defies expectations
The film captures Welsh's impressive physical condition, showing him playing football with genuine skill and working out in a Florida boxing gym. He skips like a prizefighter and spars with remarkable intensity, defying expectations for someone with his documented history of late nights and substance use.
His passion for music and sports appears genuinely equal to his love of literature. Unlike other writers who might pose for credibility, Welsh's enthusiasm seems entirely authentic as he travels the international literary festival circuit and enjoys life in Los Angeles.
Personal revelations and relationships
The documentary features Welsh's wife Emma Currie, capturing playful exchanges where they tease each other about class differences. The film includes their wedding footage from three years ago, though Welsh doesn't discuss his previous two marriages.
One significant sequence shows Welsh's visit to a Toronto clinic for a controlled DMT experience. This hallucinogenic session unfolds as a major set piece, with the film repeatedly flashing back to Welsh wearing an eye mask in his DMT trance.
Confronting difficult questions
Welsh demonstrates remarkable candour when absorbing challenging questions about his past. A radio interviewer asks about his heroin years and the people who died from addiction, creating a tense moment that initially suggests potential anger.
Welsh responds equably that "we all take responsibility for our own actions." This philosophy echoes themes from Trainspotting while revealing his measured approach to personal accountability.
Creative process and mystique
Welsh refuses to mystify the writer's craft or adopt the grandiose self-awareness many less successful writers consider their entitlement. Yet beneath his easy-going frankness lies something oddly opaque about the creative process.
This learned taciturnity about his methods, masked by unpretentiousness, contributes to his status as an "amazing one-off" in contemporary literature.
Sources used: "The Guardian" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
