Raphael Peart (Content Review)

BBC - Review

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/01/19/trainspotting_1996_review.shtml

The film was given 5 stars for the method used to rate the film. In the opening paragraph includes brief good critical information on a film called 'Shallow Graves' produced by the same team including; writer John Hodge, producer Andrew McDonald, and director Danny Boyle. It led on to say that the production of another film was 'eagerly awaited' and the outcome was 'Trainspotting'. The review then expresses the great standard, high quality of the film stating that it 'Exceeds all expectations'.

in the second paragraph the writer of the review compliments Ewan McGregor's talented abilities in acting the character of the 'heroin-enslaved Mark Renton'. It also gives a slight insight to the character his awareness to his addition and his inevitable high-highs and low lows, and also states some of the best/ weird moments including character Renton the comical elements included in the section of 'worst toilet in scotland' to the more serious depressing elements of the death of the baby.

In the third paragraph readers gain a small introduction to some of the other characters of the film, Rentons Friends. The names of each of his friends are given followed the actor who plays them then a short insight to who they are, for example 'Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is a psychotic who revels in violence' or 'Spud (Ewan Bremner) is just unfortunately an A-grade loser' this type of information is given for each of Renton's friends.

The final paragraph, firstly it states how hard it would be for the viewers to not become fascinated by the characters of the film mostly because of the great performance of the cast, said to 'burn on the screen' and also to fault of the script. Finally the writer speaks of how successful the film was despite its British roots.

Credits are also given:

Director: Danny Boyle Writer: John Hodge Stars: Ewan McGregor, Ewan Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Kelly McDonald, Peter Mullan, James Cosmo, Irvine Welsh, Dale Winton

Genre: Drama Length: 89 minutes Cinema: 1996 DVD: 22 March 1999 VHS: 1 September 2000 Country: UK

Empire - Review

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132350

Choose life? Get a life — choose Trainspotting. - Sub-Header

In the opening paragraph the reviewer is stating that the film 'Trainspotting' does not 'Glorify' heroin, it glorifies youth. It goes on to say when we watch this film in the cinema we would be peer pressured into laughing at the 'Junkies' mistakes but if we were to watch it alone the theme of heroin may seem more serious. It then says that the seriousness of the heroin would not spoil the film but just the idea that heroin is glorified.

the second paragraph includes a short introduction to that film and the main characters highlighting some of the most memorable/ tummy-turning moments of the film such as 'the worst toilet in scotland' said to be the 'Rollercoaster rush' of the first half-hour of the film which made it memorable. The readers are then given slight insights to some of the characters in the film, stating what makes them memorable such as 'Spud (Bremner) mixes dorky geekdom with the world's worst interview technique'. It then goes on to say how the characters and settings have been 'Stylised' which gives the audience a 'sudden and shocking reality injection' straight after some of the most hilarious moments of the film.

The review highlights the constant rollercoaster of Rentons desire to give up the drugs but being un-able to. in this paragraph it states some of the events that happen the next morning and beyond such as, Rentons return to 'heroin...crime...hell'. It is then stated that director(boyle) gives the audience/viewers 2 minutes before throwing them into a 'Pit' showing how things can be turned up-side-down so rapidly. Some more memorable/ key moments which occur post the next day are stated such as; the death of a baby, spud going prison and Renton hitting rock-bottom.

In the final paragraph the reviewer is still giving the reader more information on what takes place in the film. It is stating how Renton once again gets back on track with his life but he is still haunted by his memories after moving to London. Finally the reviewers speaks of how successful the film was especially being a British film, also how if Brits' can make such a good movie on such a horrific topic 'what chance does Tinseltown have?'.

a verdict on the film is given stating 'This films does not glorify drugs it glorifies film'. The film was awarded 5 stars in this review. Film details are also included.

Variety - Review

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117910754.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

The review opens with a paragraph stating short introduction to the film in terms of the production crew, and expressing the good quality of the film using phrases such as 'this inventive pic..' to support the positive claims made.

The next paragraph begins with the review John Hodge (Screen-writer) made an adaptation of this film from the 'Welsh book', it then leads on to giving a brief introduction/synopsis of the film and the main character Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) described as an 'on-off junkie'which gives the readers an insight to which state/position the main character is in, also this tells the audience one of the main constant battles Mark Renton faces in life along-side many other 'junkies' just like him.

The next paragraph includes more information on the film such as; where it is set, and are a short introduction to some of the characters 'There's Begbie (Robert Carlyle), a knife-carrying, "sensory-addicted," foul-mouthed psycho who "only does people," not drugs' this is an example of how the characters are introduced to the readers.
in the next following paragraphs reviewer continues to gives certain parts of the film, as it is a very detailed review such as the scene in which Mark Renton 'plunges ' into the toilet.
The final paragraph speaks of the performance of actor McGreggor playing the role of Mark Renton so well

Trainspotting poster analysis (Raphael Peart)

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.