Born in Glasgow into a family of doctors, John Hodge studied medicine at Edinburgh University between 1982 and 1987, after which he worked at various hospitals in the Scottish capital and around the country. He was always reluctant, however, to commit himself to a permanent job because of his ambition to write.
In 1990 John met Andrew Macdonald who encouraged him to write the screenplay which eventually became Shallow Grave. Immediately after finishing that film John returned to doctoring but since the beginning of 1995 appears to have given that profession up entirely to concentrate on his writing.
John found adapting Trainspotting a great challenge because of the book’s lack of narrative, but found himself increasingly fascinated by the character of the central figure, Mark Renton. “The film depicts his philosophy and his nihilistic, selfish way of life, which aren’t particularly attractive traits, but at the same time he’s charismatic, intelligent and attractive. One of the great things about the book is that amidst all these horrific circumstances this character is still alive and kicking, he’s still got a smart comment to make and he’s still got a heart - maybe a slightly damaged, bitter one, but he’s still a human being and so are the people around him.”
John rejects any suggestion that Trainspotting echoes the themes of Shallow Grave, “People will point out that it’s about friendship and betrayal... but that’s just a coincidence. Shallow Grave was a film where plot was the most important thing and everything else was subservient to that - which I think worked - but in this film it’s the other way around. The plot is not the most important thing. Most of all it’s just a study of character and situations.” John is adamant about the importance of team work to his success and is determined to continue working in partnership with Andrew and Danny for the foreseeable future.
Festival de Cannes
