Textual analysis (Raphael Peart)

Textual Analysis of similar media product

Part One

The film which I am analysing in this essay is a crime-drama film called Trianspotting released 23^rd of February 1993, directed by Danny Boyle. The film is an adaptation of the book written by Irvine Welsh, screenplay later written by John Hodge.

The film starts with a equilibrium of the life which would seem normal for a lower-class junkie in the 80’s; living the dangerous fast life, taking drugs, drinking smoking, thinking/trying to change their ways in terms of; at the beginning of film, three characters attempt to get a job also two characters one being the main character ‘Renton’ and his associate ‘sick boy’ actually quit taking drugs at the beginning of the film.  The equilibrium is then disrupted at the point when Renton picks up drugs once again then following behind this leads a chain of devastating events such as deaths, imprisonments and disloyalty between the four main friends. These chain of events follow through to near the end if the film where equilibrium is then restored as main character Renton decides to ‘rip off’ his friends and take the money which they all came across by drug trafficking, the scene ends with him leaving with all the money off to begin a new life so stated by the character (Renton).

the type of binary oppositions included in this film are features such as oppositions within certain characters in the film for example the big different between Renton and his friend and his friend Spud in terms of thier level of intelligence. Spuds character is the goofy, metally challenged type whereas renton is more intelligent and cunning which is expressed in the end when he decides to take the money, what he did may have been very disloyal but in the long-run he knew it would benifit him.

The film does not run in chronological order as the scene right at the beginning when the main character and his friends are running away from security guards after shop lifting takes place again half way through the film which show that it had went back in time, possibly to show how they got into this situation.  Everything post that scene then follows a chronological order.

The narrative for this film is a closed narrative as it is made distinct what is taking place at all times in the film and the audience are not left pondering or asking questions, for example, we can obviously tell that in the end of the film when Renton left with the money he was fleeing the country they were currently staying in as they showed him getting his passport. Due to the fact that the narrative is so closed it also holds an omniscient value and we as audience get to find out all of what is going on without being left to ponder what is going on in each scene.

Part Two

The characters in this film are very typical in this type of genre films (social-realism) as typically in this film the characters are very boisterous young men/women with rebellious attitudes which inspire aspects such as drug taking and underage sex/ high sex drive which are key features within the characters of this film. Also most crime-dramas such as this usually involve lower-class characters as higher-class characters would not be associated with these types of dramas. In terms of the way they speak they tend to use broken English with a Scottish dialect which can only really be connected with other Scottish films, in terms of their lack of ability to speak formally, this is often highlighted with social-realisms involving lower-class as it highlights their social-class.

A main common convention of all social-realisms is, there is always a point in which the main character reaches a really low state for example in this film the main character Renton overdoses of drugs leaving him in a critical state, his parents then attempt to rehabilitate him in their own home. Another main convention of social-realisms is they usually contain a string of events which is contained in this film as there is features from handling/intake of class ‘A’ drugs to petty crimes such as shoplifting usually as a result of their mental state. Corruption another common theme of crime-dramas often highlighted in this film from corruption to the society by the selling of drugs on the streets to the corruption of their bodies from drug intake. In all social-realism there is always a route which causes the events to take place such as money and drugs, in terms of this film the route which inspires the chain of negative effects is drugs.

Throughout the majority of the film diegetic sound is used except for the background music, for example when characters are in their ‘high’ state you can hear a high tempo, techno music thumping in the background. This type of music is often related to the type of drugs in which they take in this film as they are commonly used in techno raves.

Throughout the movie a lot of close ups are used for showing a variety of emotion such as when drug taking or just on the toilet, this gives the audience a strong view of how they are feeling

They also used POV shots mostly when they are in their ‘high’ state to give the audience an insight into what they are seeing whilst high.

in this screenshot it is an example of Renton in a ‘high’ state he is on the verge of passing out and is visualising himself as in coffin slowly going into the ground as if he was dying.

In terms of props the types of things used are needles used to inject drugs, drugs, household features (television, sofa...)

The film is mostly set either within a pubs/clubs, houses or rundown flats used for an accommodation for those who want to come and take drugs, mostly takes place in Scotland and London (England). All of these are natural settings; natural settings are typical in social-realism films as these strongly relate to real life situations. In the scene in which his parents are trying to rehabilitate him the camera is hand-held this emphasises his unstable state.