"Poison or Pearls, Reality or Fantasy?" (Street 110): How do the makers of Trainspotting depict British youth sub-culture and what methods of filming do they use to communicate their message in the surrealist way the film is famous for?
Trainspotting (1996) is a "depiction of the squalid depravities and exploitative self interest that characterises the everyday life of heroin addiction." (Petrie 90) Its' realistic style, use of language and unflinching portrayal of drug use was what first attracted me to look at it a bit closer. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, it tells the story of a group of working class unemployed drug addicts, focusing on their problems with heroin abuse, inability to get a job and family problems. Set in Edinburgh in the early nineties, Danny Boyle's (director) style is undoubtedly extremely realistic, fairly disgusting and at times, shocking. British realist films became popular in the late fifties, with Look Back in Anger (1959) and Room at the Top (1959). Realism was defined as "a determination to tackle `real' social issues and experiences in a manner which matched, a style which was honest and `realistic' as well" (Hill 127).
There were a many new characteristics in Trainspotting which hadn't been attempted before, one of which being showing the good side to heroin as well as the bad.
"Take yir best orgasm, multiply the feeling by twenty, and you're still fuckin miles off the pace. My dry, cracking bones are soothed and liquefied by ma beautiful heroin's tender caresses. The earth moved, and it's still moving" (Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting).
This accentuates the realism of the film, makes people horrified at the characters and their filthy habits, and really makes the viewer think that t...
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...erview. This would attain a more accurate analysis of the film, and more could be discovered from the results of others' thoughts on the film.
Bibliography
Barker, M. From Antz to Titanic: Reinventing Film Analysis. Pluto Press; London: 2000
Freeman, A. Studies in Scottish Fiction 1945 to the Present. Peter Lang; Frankfurt; 1996
Hill, J. Sex, Class and Realism. British Film Institute; London: 1986
Kuhn, A. ed. Journal of Popular British Cinema. Bookcraft; Bath: 1999
Lothe, J. Narrative in Film and Fiction: An Introduction. Oxford University Press; Oxford: 2000
Petrie, D. Contemporary Scottish Fictions: Film Television and the Novel. Edinburgh University Press; Edinburgh: 2004.
Spicer, A. Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity and Popular British Cinema. Tauris; London: 2001
Street, S. British National Cinema. Routledge; London: 1997
In conclusion, by using the production elements of both allusion and symbolism; director Tim Burton has created the film in such a manner by making deliberate choices in order to invite a certain response. The film is constructed and given greater depth through the allusion to elements from other genres and ridicules the suburbia’s materialism and lack of imagination, which in turn enhances the invited response.
Growing up, our parents are always telling us that doing drugs can have bad consequences in our lives. Many films in today’s film industry are portraying drugs as the cause of an amazing time accidently encouraging that the use of drugs is totally fine. Requiem for a Dream is directed by Darren Aronofsky. This film shows that utilizing drugs can be all fun in games, but will lead to a very destructive destruction that can affect the drug user and everyone in the addicts surrounding. The movie shows the struggle that four individuals go through to overcome such a strong drug addiction. Aronofsky was very creative when presenting the subject matter; he used certain cinematography, themes, and directorial techniques to tell the audience the story.
The Controversies surrounding British post-war crime dramas are often thought of as being the visually distasteful and sordid, mindless violence that could be found in British crime dramas at a time when censorship was unstable, but the controversial nature of these films are embedded much deeper than that. They root themselves deep within the fabric of society, it asks some very important questions about the state of the country post-war and how these films caused mass hysteria which reached the highest levels of government. This essay is about the fragile nature of a society in an unstable economy in a changing landscape, which threatens to belittle the police and glorify the criminal gangs. It compares British crime dramas to the Hollywood gangster films of the 1930’s and compares the similar styles and looks at what this meant for British film culture.
Tuss, Alex (Winter 2004). "Masculine Identity and Success: A Critical Analysis of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley and Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club". The Journal of Men's Studies 12 (2): 93–102.
A common recreational drug that is illegally dealt is Heroin. To many this drug is known by a few slang/street names, some being; smack, brown stone and junk (Tracy, 2012). Heroin is a highly addictive opiate that caused many different issues regarding physical and mental health. It can be consumed in 3 different ways: snorting, injecting and smoking. The original purpose of heroin is far different then the purpose that it is used for today in society. In 1874, heroin was first produced from morphine and 24 years later began its journey in the field of medicine to help morphine addicted patients (Scott, 1998). After use of the medicine it became present that the drug was just as addictive as morphine and was in turn creating patients to become addicted to the new drug. In 1902, doctors ceased the use of heroin in the medical field and a few years following, 8 years later, the first case of a heroin addict was admitted to a hospital for treatment (Scott, 1998). The drug is no longer used for a medical purposes but is still present in the legal drug selling market. Many countries have stiff penalties if caught in possession of or are selling heroin, because this drug is listed as a Class A drug (“Opium, Morphine, Heroin”, n.d.).
In 1805, morphine and codeine were isolated from opium, and morphine served as a cure for opium addiction since its addictive characteristics were not known. Morphine’s use as a treatment for opium addiction was initially well received as morphine has about ten times more euphoric effects than the equivalent amount of opium. Over the years, however, morphine abuse increased.
...r, with investigation into the visual elements of this film, meanings of this film expand beyond the literal dialog and -- existing in the film.
On the other hand, marijuana and LSD are not the only drugs that are used in films to help enhance the way the film is perceived. Requiem for a Dream revolves it’s entire plot around the ups and downs of being a heroin addict, and leaves little room for pleasant scenes. This film is a classic drug movie that swings from ups to downs in the matter of minutes. Whether it be the simple high, or the ending desperate withdrawal addiction, this film plays with our sensitive sides of the ideas of hard drug use. (Morris, 2000) Drugs such as heroin tend to reach a level that is not normally suitable for watching movies. It is not that the audience is incapable of watching the film, but their conscious state is not suited for film watching. (Mathijs and Sexton, 169) Many would agree that this film is hard to watch due to its extreme graphics of heroi...
Firstly, the hyper-sexualisation of female victims. Janet Leigh is filmed in long, lingering tracking shots time and time again, particularly when she is dressing or undressing. The camera acts as the “male gaze” (Item 9) which sees the woman on screen as an object of desire, rather than a subject with autonomy.
Trainspotting presents an ostensible image of fractured society. The 1996 film opens, famously, with a series of postulated choicesvariables, essentially, in the delineation of identity and opposition. Significant here is the tone in which these options are deliveredit might be considered the rhetorical voice of society, a playful exposition of the pressure placed on individuals to make the "correct" choices, to conform to expectation.
For the purpose of this study, I will critically examine the representation of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema. I will specifically analyse films from the early 90’s to mid 2000’s from ‘Philadelphia’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain’. This dissertation will argue that over the space of 12 years homosexuality has become an acceptable part of cinema. I will look at early Hollywood’s representation of homosexuality depicting how aesthetically so much has changed. The current paper will predominantly focus on the two films ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’, by critically analysing the aesthetic differences between each film as well as their overall importance to gay culture.
The Trouble with Men: Masculinities in European and Hollywood Cinema - Phil Powrie, Ann Davies and Bruce Babington.
The common theme found through reading various pieces of Scottish literature is the reality that comes to life. The pages of artistic work the writers put forth are astounding. The literature has a beating heart of its’ own. The venues that audiences explore will allow them to see exactly this point. The poetry is designed to fluently glide through Scottish history. Then when readers connect the verse to the short stories they will become aware of the in-depth quality that reflects the important aspects of life. Lastly, when the novel is introduced it will summarize the feeling that the Scottish put themselves and those around them into the works. Forever sealing the time into literature that is passed through various generations of analysts.
In module 11, postmodernism was defined to “call attention to the storytelling process, but through a high incidence of quotation, appropriation, borrowing, homage, copying and recycling”. Additionally, postmodernism involves making references to contemporary culture and everything tends to be built from fragments of other things. It is involves mixture of high and low culture references. Furthermore, it tends to show “the world as imaginary, and reality as a construction” (module 11). Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and Nelson Pereira do Santos’s How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman are classic examples of postmodern film with unique characteristics.
Pride and Prejudice, the beloved novel about the romance of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy written by Jane Austen, has always been a favourite of film producers. Joe Wright, the director of the 2005 adaptation managed to fit the main story into a two-hour film, but unavoidably made some adjustments to the original novel. However, regardless of some lines and settings altered to fit the twenty-first-century audience, this essay holds the view that the 2005 filmed version in fact reaffirms gender hierarchies in the original novel by adding exact scenes and using special cinematic techniques.