Edinburgh on film:

 I absolutely love seeing locations that I've visited on TV or in films, maybe you're the same.  Then again, maybe it's genetic.  My parents used to watch Friends every week with my sister and me just to obnoxiously shout 'Been there!' when a two second clip of Central Park or the Empire State Building appeared on screen...  

I get the biggest kick out of seeing fictional characters in my own town, wandering through the same places I go to on a regular basis.  Living in Scotland's capital city means that I get the opportunity to see my home soil on the big screen fairly regularly, but it never gets old!  Here are my top three films set in good Auld Reekie:

Source: here

1. Ask the average person to think of an Edinburgh based film, and I'm willing to bet that nine times out of ten they will choose Trainspotting (1996).  Controversial as the film's (and original novel's) subject matter may be, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his on screen pals do make a fairly loveable gang of drug addicts and petty criminals.  If I'm ever running for a bus or train in the centre of town, I usually can't help but imagine Renton and co. jogging along Princes Street beside me, with Iggy Pop's Lust for Life blasting.  The majority of Trainspotting was actually filmed in Glasgow, but Princes Street is such an iconic Edinburgh location (and still looks virtually the same today, well over a decade later) that it's unlikely you'll notice. 

Source: here

2. Like Trainspotting, Filth (2013) was originally based on a book by Edinburgh born author Irvine Welsh.  Filth paints a similarly dark picture of the capital, and this movie actually shows a great deal more of real Edinburgh than its big brother.  Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, the Grassmarket, the Cowgate - if it's a part of central urban Edinburgh, it's in the movie.  Even though Filth was also partly filmed in Glasgow, Stirling, Hamburg, Belgium and even Sweden, it captures an admittedly somewhat seedy side of Edinburgh that I recognise.

Source: here

Source: here

3. The most accurate portrayal of Edinburgh on film that I've seen so far wasn't made by a Scot, and doesn't actually feature the real city at all.  Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist (2010) is a beautifully hand drawn animation, set primarily in Edinburgh in the late 1950s.  A surprising amount of the city still looks almost identical today, and anyone who is familiar with modern Edinburgh won't have any problem recognising famous landmarks like Waverley Station and Jenners department store.  What is now The Cameo cinema in Tollcross (just down the road from me) features quite a lot, and I actually saw the film for the first time there.  It was quite a surreal experience!  

The Illusionist incorporates the stunning natural landscape of Edinburgh that Trainspotting and Filth ignore in favour of man made buildings and monuments.  It's nice to know that even though Chomet's interpretation of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat looks like a dream, the real view is just as lovely.

Source: here