Trainspotting Quarantine question

In the film “Trainspotting”, the films director uses the aesthetic design and other techniques within certain scenes in order to help depict the ideological issues of youth and addiction. For example, one of the scenes I have chosen to analyse that helps to present the issues of the ideology of the main characters is the interview scene. Within this scene, the character apparently named “Spud” has recently taken speed in order to cope with the stress the interview has presented. Within a particular shot, the director uses Mise-en-scene in order to help present the ideology of the main cast.

 

Within this shot, you can blatantly see the painting of the beach on the wall with Spud positioned at a point that helps to make him appear to be present in the world of the painting. This could show that while he is intoxicated by the drug, he feels blissful and in pure extasy. It is as though his mind and body are miles apart from one another as he acts without thinking. The lighting and colours used within this scene also help to create an otherworldly feeling as though we are experiencing the effects of the drugs ourselves. This is also further displayed through the use of editing as, throughout the duration of the scene and when a cut occurs, the distance between Spud and the interview panel seems to strangely increase.

 

This helps to reinforce the idea as the drugs slowly begin to properly take effect and over time he starts distancing from the situation. This is also shown within the cinematography which distorts, not only the distance between the characters within the scene, but the cinematography also distorts the size of the people within the scene. This could also show that he is being affected by the drugs as the world is shifting and changing between shots which helps to reinforce the idea that it is as though we are also experiencing the effects of the drugs.

Within this scene and the final parts of the previous scene, Spud seems to be represented as an almost childish character. This is can be seen through his reliance on drugs to help him get through daily events, such as the interview, and remain calm during them. This helps to also further exemplify his addiction, showing that he uses it as a way to escape situations that would seem far strenuous for him to deal with. This also shows that he has used the drugs he seems to rely upon so frequently to form the basis of his life. He has used them to help acquire the people he trusts, and he uses them to help deal with situations too strenuous for a person as immature as he is to handle.

This scene overall helps to depict ideological issues of youth and addiction, showing that many young people have been warned and instructed to avoid drugs like a virus, however many others also allow drugs to rule their lives and feel as though the effects help to protect them from hardships of the real world.

The other scene I have chosen to analyse to help reinforce the ideas I have discussed is the toilet scene. Within this scene, the character Renton has been given a suppository and after a series of events, he finds himself in the “worst toilet in Scotland” located within the “bookies shop”. Once he relieves himself, he discovers that his suppositories have fallen into the toilet and he decides to take a plunge into the toilet which slowly evolves into a more literal sense of taking a plunge with him eventually ending up in what would seem to be an ocean searching for his drugs.

 

Within this scene, we can see Renton’s addiction to drugs through the use of Mise-en-scene. When he enters the bathroom, we can see that it is in a terrible state. There is filth strewn all across the wall and on basically every surface, many of the toilets and urinals are destroyed and the entire place is just in awful condition. These conditions help to portray his desperation, however, his desperation switches from his desperation to relieve himself to his desperation to retrieve his drugs from the toilet. Another example of how the director helps to present the disgusting atmosphere that the bathroom has is through the usage of low angle shots.

 

The use of these shots helps us to almost put us into Renton’s shoes as we help to get a closer look at all the disgusting substances that drape the walls and surfaces like make up upon a woman’s face. Another key example of Mise-en-scene can be found within the underwater world. Once Renton discovers his suppositories have fallen into the toilet. He soon become desperate and places his hand into the murky depths (as previously stated) which goes from rather unfortunate to almost humorous as soon, his entire body has been consumed by the toilet’s filthy maw as though he is an oversized insect being devoured by a frog in a dingey swamp. This can be assumed to be almost like a representation of how difficult the feat of him attempting to retrieve his prized narcotics from the porcelain pools of repulsion. Once he has fully entered the toilet, he suddenly appears within an underwater world.

 

Within this world, there only seems to be one source of light which could be assumed the real world’s light radiating into the toilet bowl like a sun. This light could represent his success in retrieving his narcotics in real life while he sees it as the light at the end of the tunnel and the end of his suffering within his head.

This scene overall helps to depict ideological issues of youth and addiction, showing that many young addicts are willing to go to any extent to enjoy their drugs and would be willing to make any sacrifice to ensure that they can have enjoy the effects that they provide to the user.

And so, overall, I believe that this film helps to depict the ideological issues of youth and addiction rather well, showing the struggles addicts go through due to their choices.