“How does the aesthetic quality of ‘Trainspotting’ depict youth and drug addiction?”

“How does the aesthetic quality of ‘Trainspotting’ depict youth and drug addiction?” Your answer must refer to 2 scenes.

The opening scene of ‘Trainspotting’ shows the protagonist of the film ‘Renton’ and his friends in a fast-paced foot chase after they have been caught shop-lifting. The hand-held camera look adds a large amount of tension and also makes the scene more exciting. Not only this but it makes the audience believe that they are in the chase themselves which makes the whole of the scene much more personal. The editor uses a jump cut multiple times in the chase scene so that the audience is shown both the determined facial expression of Renton and also the angry looking people chasing him, not only this but a large array of shot types are used. The first shot which shows Renton’s face is a mid-close up, eyelevel shot, this shot would suggest that Renton and the rest of his friends are equal with society. However, the low angle shot used next would usually make the subject look large and powerful, but due to the fact that the camera isn’t tilted upwards, this isn’t the case. Instead, the shot used highlights the mise-en-scene of the worn and damaged shoes which Renton is wearing, not only this, but his faded jeans and jumper which is way too small, highlights that he cannot afford to buy new clothes and also how he proves as a contrast to the men who are wearing suits, this has connotations with wealth and power which Renton clearly has none of. The fact that Renton and his friends have the old and worn clothes highlights what heroine does to people, and how it can rid people of their money and also their moral decency. This is a common theme throughout the film ‘Trainspotting’, as the film itself depicts most of the heroine addicts part of the ‘underclass’ of society, we can see this mainly because they are unemployed and causing mischief in the streets of Edinburgh as we see at the start of the film. This is obviously giving a negative insight to what heroine can do to people. As well as this, Renton and his friend have an extremely short hairstyle and Renton in particular has a shaved head, this could have connotations with gangs and ‘chav’ like activity.  Also, Renton is shown to be running away from the men chasing him, which could be a constant theme in the film and how he runs away from life in general and also his responsibility. The final shot used is a Point of view shot which shows the audience what Renton is seeing and also shows the chase from his perspective. Not only this but it puts the audience in Renton’s shoes and makes them ask the question ‘what would I do in this situation?’.

The non-diegetic voice over used is extremely ironic, Renton says to “choose life” yet he is a heroin addict who is wasting his life away and risks dying from is addiction, he also talks about “good health” yet he smokes cigarettes, this highlights that he is contradicting himself. Both of these prove what he is saying is ironic, therefore the audience wouldn’t listen to him or take his advice on board. The non- diegetic music is also fast-paced which matches the tempo of the chase. The actual lyrics of the song itself ‘lust for life’ by Iggy Pop talk about making the most of life and always striving for the best outcome. Which is the complete opposite of what Renton is currently doing. The whole foot chase scene is edited to look extremely dull and de-saturated, this is too highlight how gritty and realistic the film is. A de-saturated look is a common convention of many social realism films.

The next scene I will analyse is the toilet scene, where Renton somehow manages to climb into a fully functional toilet and even get through the U-bend. First of all, a low angle shot is used as soon as Renton walks into the worst toilet in Scotland. This is to highlight the mise-en-scene of the faeces covered interior, as well as the cracked urinals, huge amount of litter and general untidiness of the place itself. This and the huge amount of brown used in the whole scene highlights how horrible this toilet and scene itself actually is. Not only this, but ‘brown’ is a slang word for heroin itself. The diegetic sound of the splashing also backs this up, the humorous part is that Renton doesn’t even care about how unhygienic the toilets are because of how bad he needs to relieve himself. This highlights how much Heroine can alter one’s self and change people’s perception of situations like these. If it wasn’t for the heroine, Renton wouldn’t be in this situation. Therefore, the film depicts heroine in a negative way because of the situation it has put Renton in. Hyper-realism has been used in this scene and it has over- exaggerated how disgusting the toilet actually is, because no toilet in the world really looks like this. The next shot of the toilet itself uses a bird’s eye shot, this is too show everything in the scene such as the toilet clogged with faeces and also the state of the walls. Also, a bird’s eye shot may have been used to signify that god is looking down on Renton both physically and metaphorically in the sense that Renton has committed sin and is ruining his life, therefore God is judging him. This birds eye shot is lit by an overhead light which is present above Renton and we can see its reflection in the brown puddle on the floor. This gives the shot a cold looking feel and also creates a dingy atmosphere. The next mid close up from a low angle shows Renton’s grossed out facial expressions as he looked inside the toilet. During the cut where Renton is on the toilet, he looks extremely relieved and happy as he has emptied his bowels, however the close up used after this highlights how his expression has now changed as his suppositories have been lost down the toilet, this on its own shows how much Renton’s ‘final hit’ means to him, never mind him crawling down the toilet to get them. The array of shots used all give the audience a different perspective. The side angle, close up shot gives the viewer a good look at Renton’s grossed out face, the point of view shot shows Renton delving into the toilet in his eyes, and the shot from behind comically highlights what it would look like if someone was to walk in on him climbing into a toilet. The next cut shows Renton swimming around in a blue, dreamy abyss, the bright light coming from behind him highlights how he is in no longer in any danger, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel, the soothing non-diegetic music also backs this up. The whole scene where he is swimming around in the dark blue waters contrasts massively with the rest of the toilet scene due to the huge change in scenery. This could represent Renton’s mind and how it Is now at peace because he knows he can have his ‘final’ hit. It is obvious that Renton’s final hit is important, this is due to the fact that the suppositories are florescent, which indicates how much they mean to him, and because of the fact that they stand out so much, they are probably the only thing on Renton’s mind.

Throughout the whole of the film, the main characters: Renton, Sick boy, Spud, Begbie and Tommy are all presented as troubled individuals who cause mayhem and mischief in pubs and on the streets of Edinburgh. This could give us insight that this is how many of the population at this time depict youth in Edinburgh and also the rest of the UK. Drug addiction is also a common trend among some of the main characters we see in this film, not only this but drug addiction itself is portrayed very negatively at times such as the toilet scene, and also an innocent baby dies because of the irresponsible parents who are irresponsible due to the addiction they are suffering from. However, the general message of the film seems to be that if careful, one can get away with using illegal drugs, and can live happily ever after. However, obviously this isn’t the case for everyone.