Trainspotting Question
"How does the aesthetic quality of Trainspotting depict ideological issues of youth and addiction?" You must refer to two scenes.
In the film Trainspotting, the aesthetic is used carefully to represent the ideological issues of the youth of the time and the additions of 1990's Scotland. We see this in the scene where Renton swims in 'The Worst Toilet in Scotland' where the scene opens with Renton being given suppositories in an abandoned apartment. The lighting is natural and the design of the furniture in the room presents the appearance of a drug dealer of the decade - a mattress with old blankets, alcohol bottles and bare plaster and poorly-painted wall shows his low as a man surviving of dealer income. The camera angles shows the dealer being lower in shots to show his standard of living in this time. Renton is placed at the top showing he is still at a higher point as he still has family and friends to rely on when he gets low. The non-diegetic music playing 'Carmen Suite No.2' dies down as he gets the suppositories. The music acts almost as a come down from the previous energetic music used previously when he was on the high of heroin. Once Renton inserts the drugs, the camera pans downwards to place the drug dealer underneath Renton - specifically between his legs - this visually puts the dealer in a symbolic position, one like a toilet or urinal, putting the man in a low position that he is the equivalent of something used to relief one self - like taking drugs or using the bathroom. However, they are placed on the same side of the screen, almost showing how they are both on the wrong side of drug abuse - the side where they use it rather than stay away from it.
The next clip shows Renton walking past flats, assuming they are council apartments all decorated with different colours and most being closed off. This visual presents how we don't know what happens behind closed doors, and that everyone has their own struggles and addictions - especially in 19902's Scotland where addiction was high. The use of narration talking about side affects creates a surreal approach for the film, almost like the experience you can have when on a hit of heroin. As Renton feels the need to use the bathroom, he rushes to find a toilet. He walks into an old pub where the camera angles change, a wide-lens is used to make all the people looking at him appear more daunting for the perspective of Renton. This technique presents the ideology that most people in society agreed with, which was that heroine was seen as bad, although smoking and drinking was widely accepted at the time. The flickering light above the toilet door creates an ominous feeling that Renton would feel entering to relieve himself as it is dubbed the 'worst toilet in Scotland'
When we get a glimpse at the toilet, it is singled out in the shot, creating again more symbolism. The toilet represents how low Renton has become since his heroin addiction to the point where he has reached this toilet flooding with sewage and seeming covering the entire stall in faeces and sewage. In the moment, Renton acts almost as if he has experienced a hit when he finally relieves himself in a stall so disgusting it would disgust the viewers. This symbolism is emphasised with Renton finding bliss in something as terrible as heroin. His realisation of losing his heroin kicks in and he turns desperate to find them again. Once he starts to dive into the toilet and swim inside the sewage, the symbolism is at its peak as Renton has gone so low, he is inside a toilet that his community has dubbed the worst of all Scotland. This shows both sides of the ideology issues of the time, as people heavily judged the addiction and thought of it as disgusting, where Renton will do anything for his lifestyle of taking heroin for a boost of an orgasmic feeling. The classical music also begins again as he dives into the toilet, the song Habanera is used as the opera it was from had the title character 'a fiery, intoxicating temptress to whom the male characters become addicted.' which perfectly represents how Renton feels about the heroin.
Once he is inside the toilet, the light is visible from the top, which would have two meanings, as there is light above the toilet, and/or the light shows how he is going deeper into the darkness by swimming for the drugs. The blissful music also playing within the water also creates a surreal moment almost like a hallucination. He swims up to the surface and is pulled back into reality as he gasps for air - like when you are coming down form heroin - and the visual shows the poverty and low that Renton is currently in for the majority of the film. The very iconic shot of Renton coming out of the toilet shows the issues of poverty and drug addiction that the film wants to show its viewers by placing the main character in a dirty toilet, gasping for air in a very surreal and disturbing way to express the ideology of heroine addiction and how disturbing the issue is for those who have the addiction and those who know people with said addiction.
Another scene that expresses the ideology with the aesthetics is the opening scene to the film. It immediately throws us into a camera shot following the main characters of the film as they run away from police. This presents us immediately with the issues of poverty of Scotland as they obviously stole the things that were falling as they ran, and because of their drug addictions, they have to steal because of their limited money. The narration opens using very explicit language that also tells the issues of society and poverty creating people that are foul-mouthed. However, the music overlaying the scene creates a more enjoyable moment to mirror the adrenaline of these characters. The introduction to the characters makes them seem normal and ordinary, to tell the audience how normal these people in poverty and addiction are. The colour palettes used in the scenes are representative of sickness and danger and the majority of camera angles used in the scene are low down to show how heroin addicts are normally collapsed on the floor. When the baby is placed in a different room from the adults, it shows the neglect kids born from addicted parents receive, and foreshadows the outcome of neglect. The mise-en-scène is all damaged or torn away, acting as a symbolism of those lives being torn away from addiction, as well as the veins/capillaries collapsing from injecting. The narration continues to talk over when the characters take the drug, saying how they aren't 'that stupid' in their eyes when society would judge their way of living. Renton describes the feeling as more than ten times better than sex, which shows the ideological issues that these people have - wanting to feel almost euphoric and orgasmic. In a moment of bliss, the child comes towards the room, but the mother only cares for the drug, showing the issues of poverty and addiction.
When the camera addresses the over character's opinions on the drug, they all hate the drug, but they are seen smoking and drinking massive amounts of beer and wine. This shows the issues of society hating only heroin where the other recreational drugs taken in like tobacco and alcohol are widely accepted and even encouraged by others. They talk about poisoning the body, although alcohol abuse and excessive smoking can kill just like heroin. The scenes these people appear in are all in neutral sets and lighting, representing them as more ordinary and responsible, when the heroin addicts are surrounded by bright colours. Renton's last moment in the scene is him talking about how he needs to quit the drug, but then contradicts himself in the voice over saying that he needed another hit and he had work to do. This shows the intense need for the drug once you are addicted, showing the issues of the addiction and the poverty possibly causing it.
In the film Trainspotting, the aesthetic is used carefully to represent the ideological issues of the youth of the time and the additions of 1990's Scotland. We see this in the scene where Renton swims in 'The Worst Toilet in Scotland' where the scene opens with Renton being given suppositories in an abandoned apartment. The lighting is natural and the design of the furniture in the room presents the appearance of a drug dealer of the decade - a mattress with old blankets, alcohol bottles and bare plaster and poorly-painted wall shows his low as a man surviving of dealer income. The camera angles shows the dealer being lower in shots to show his standard of living in this time. Renton is placed at the top showing he is still at a higher point as he still has family and friends to rely on when he gets low. The non-diegetic music playing 'Carmen Suite No.2' dies down as he gets the suppositories. The music acts almost as a come down from the previous energetic music used previously when he was on the high of heroin. Once Renton inserts the drugs, the camera pans downwards to place the drug dealer underneath Renton - specifically between his legs - this visually puts the dealer in a symbolic position, one like a toilet or urinal, putting the man in a low position that he is the equivalent of something used to relief one self - like taking drugs or using the bathroom. However, they are placed on the same side of the screen, almost showing how they are both on the wrong side of drug abuse - the side where they use it rather than stay away from it.
The next clip shows Renton walking past flats, assuming they are council apartments all decorated with different colours and most being closed off. This visual presents how we don't know what happens behind closed doors, and that everyone has their own struggles and addictions - especially in 19902's Scotland where addiction was high. The use of narration talking about side affects creates a surreal approach for the film, almost like the experience you can have when on a hit of heroin. As Renton feels the need to use the bathroom, he rushes to find a toilet. He walks into an old pub where the camera angles change, a wide-lens is used to make all the people looking at him appear more daunting for the perspective of Renton. This technique presents the ideology that most people in society agreed with, which was that heroine was seen as bad, although smoking and drinking was widely accepted at the time. The flickering light above the toilet door creates an ominous feeling that Renton would feel entering to relieve himself as it is dubbed the 'worst toilet in Scotland'
When we get a glimpse at the toilet, it is singled out in the shot, creating again more symbolism. The toilet represents how low Renton has become since his heroin addiction to the point where he has reached this toilet flooding with sewage and seeming covering the entire stall in faeces and sewage. In the moment, Renton acts almost as if he has experienced a hit when he finally relieves himself in a stall so disgusting it would disgust the viewers. This symbolism is emphasised with Renton finding bliss in something as terrible as heroin. His realisation of losing his heroin kicks in and he turns desperate to find them again. Once he starts to dive into the toilet and swim inside the sewage, the symbolism is at its peak as Renton has gone so low, he is inside a toilet that his community has dubbed the worst of all Scotland. This shows both sides of the ideology issues of the time, as people heavily judged the addiction and thought of it as disgusting, where Renton will do anything for his lifestyle of taking heroin for a boost of an orgasmic feeling. The classical music also begins again as he dives into the toilet, the song Habanera is used as the opera it was from had the title character 'a fiery, intoxicating temptress to whom the male characters become addicted.' which perfectly represents how Renton feels about the heroin.
Once he is inside the toilet, the light is visible from the top, which would have two meanings, as there is light above the toilet, and/or the light shows how he is going deeper into the darkness by swimming for the drugs. The blissful music also playing within the water also creates a surreal moment almost like a hallucination. He swims up to the surface and is pulled back into reality as he gasps for air - like when you are coming down form heroin - and the visual shows the poverty and low that Renton is currently in for the majority of the film. The very iconic shot of Renton coming out of the toilet shows the issues of poverty and drug addiction that the film wants to show its viewers by placing the main character in a dirty toilet, gasping for air in a very surreal and disturbing way to express the ideology of heroine addiction and how disturbing the issue is for those who have the addiction and those who know people with said addiction.
Another scene that expresses the ideology with the aesthetics is the opening scene to the film. It immediately throws us into a camera shot following the main characters of the film as they run away from police. This presents us immediately with the issues of poverty of Scotland as they obviously stole the things that were falling as they ran, and because of their drug addictions, they have to steal because of their limited money. The narration opens using very explicit language that also tells the issues of society and poverty creating people that are foul-mouthed. However, the music overlaying the scene creates a more enjoyable moment to mirror the adrenaline of these characters. The introduction to the characters makes them seem normal and ordinary, to tell the audience how normal these people in poverty and addiction are. The colour palettes used in the scenes are representative of sickness and danger and the majority of camera angles used in the scene are low down to show how heroin addicts are normally collapsed on the floor. When the baby is placed in a different room from the adults, it shows the neglect kids born from addicted parents receive, and foreshadows the outcome of neglect. The mise-en-scène is all damaged or torn away, acting as a symbolism of those lives being torn away from addiction, as well as the veins/capillaries collapsing from injecting. The narration continues to talk over when the characters take the drug, saying how they aren't 'that stupid' in their eyes when society would judge their way of living. Renton describes the feeling as more than ten times better than sex, which shows the ideological issues that these people have - wanting to feel almost euphoric and orgasmic. In a moment of bliss, the child comes towards the room, but the mother only cares for the drug, showing the issues of poverty and addiction.
When the camera addresses the over character's opinions on the drug, they all hate the drug, but they are seen smoking and drinking massive amounts of beer and wine. This shows the issues of society hating only heroin where the other recreational drugs taken in like tobacco and alcohol are widely accepted and even encouraged by others. They talk about poisoning the body, although alcohol abuse and excessive smoking can kill just like heroin. The scenes these people appear in are all in neutral sets and lighting, representing them as more ordinary and responsible, when the heroin addicts are surrounded by bright colours. Renton's last moment in the scene is him talking about how he needs to quit the drug, but then contradicts himself in the voice over saying that he needed another hit and he had work to do. This shows the intense need for the drug once you are addicted, showing the issues of the addiction and the poverty possibly causing it.
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