How useful has an ideological approach been in understanding binary oppostions in the narrative of Trainspotting?

How useful has an ideological approach been in understanding binary oppostions in the narrative of Trainspotting?


Binary oppositions often create conflict, which drives the narrative. The films I have studied use a wide range of oppositions that reflect internal dilemmas and external forces that represent ideological values that pull the protagonists and their worlds in different directions, creating the drive and drama of the films and fuel the demographics desire for resolution.

The primary binary opposite I would like to discuss is the betrayal vs friendship opposition that creates a sense of mistrust and fear within the characters as well as the narrative and questions the demographics morals and everyday ideological views.

In the penultimate sequence we see the binary opposite visualised in the moment where Renton embezzles the money and flees from his so call "Friends". The scene is shot from a long shot of Renton walking across a bridge in London, the protagonist  then makes direct address to the camera and smirks as he makes the realisation that he has gotten away with the task. Renton symbolises right-winged Thatcherism showing the selfishness of politics and London in the 1980's where as his friends symbolise the 1970's where Margret Thatcher was in power and they also convey the sense of not being selfish.

Through-out the film, Renton's voice over is deemed convincing to the audience in adjacent with non-diegetic "Brit-Pop" soundtrack it offers us (the demographic) an energetic youthful and immersive hyper-reality. The aesthetic of addiction is used from the outset of the motion picture to explore this binary opposition, later in the sequence the visuals show us the contrast; At the opium den. The mis-en-scene of the location is dingy and sickly green , the camera pans along the floor from the perspective of Sick Boy's baby showing us that their world is revolting and dangerous and therefore their ideology is less desirable then ours.

Another binary opposition I would like to explore is that of 1980's vs. 1990's. The demographic see the 1980's through the character lens of Renton and the group however, we see 1990's through the character lens of Diane , a school girl from Leith. From the moment we meet Diane on screen she asserts her dominance through her confident demeanour. When Renton meets Diane the audience automatically realise that she has the control in the convosation. This can be interpreted as the 1980's (Renton) being pushed and controlled by the 1990's (Diane) showing how society is moving on from the 80's. We see this when Diane lectures Renton on how "Life is moving on. You can't sit in your flat all day smoking pot. The world is moving on, everything is changing. Drugs are changing. Clubs are changing. People are changing. You have to move with the times or be forgotten about.". This shows how Renton knew he had to change or he would be stuck in a pit of the 1980's and stay the heroin junkie he is perceived to be throughout the film.

An additional binary opposite I would like to discuss is that of group vs. the individual, this leads the demographic to reflect on political ideologies, the individual representing a capitalist idea and the group portrayed as a socialist idea. Renton is portrayed as an alienated individual throughout Trainspotting. We are shown this through the camera as he is shot apart from the rest of the group. In the opening scene he lies in a corpse like and unconscious manner in another room from the others, this shows the physical barriers between him and the rest of the group. In my opinion, this could be used to imply that he is not the same type of addict as the rest of the group but rather he is less of a threat to society and himself. This allows us, the audience, to sympathise and emote with him more than the other characters. However, this could be argued that if the audience saw the story through perhaps Spud or Sick Boy's point of view, would we as the audience align ourselves with Renton. Would we sympathise with him or rather have an oppositional reading to him? Renton betrays his friends ( as previously stated in the first paragraph) which reinforces that a strong willed , possibly even a capitalist individual is more powerful then a group of socialists.

A male vs. female binary opposite is not at the forefront of the films messages or ideologies however plays a massive part in the subliminal messages through out the film. In the motion picture, the narrative is delivered to us through Renton's point of view, a male voice and a male story. Women are seen as "extras" in the film and do not play a huge role narratively. This is shown in the opening scene the camera lingers on Alison (the only female addict) as Renton describes the feeling of Heroin as orgasmic. We can also tell that female characters do not play a massive part in the narrative as the camera has a different style of movement and cuts away from their reactions much quicker. We can also link the ideology of group vs. individual to Alison as when baby Dawn  dies , Renton doesn't show the same amount of empathy as the rest of the male group does.

To conclude, binary oppositions have shown the audience through the narrative that without them, there would be no conflicts to be resolved and no narrative journey. Binary oppositions allow the screen writer and director to put hegemonic and counter beliefs against each other and explore the messages and power of opposing ideas.

How Useful Is An Ideological Critical Approach Been In Understanding The Narrative Resolution?

How Useful Is An Ideological Critical Approach Been In   Understanding The Narrative Resolution?

This is England (Shane Meadows 2006), is the story of a gang of British teenagers and their endeavours over the course of the summer holidays. The narrative is centred on young skin heads in the 1980's, specifically twelve-year-old Shawn, a lonely and isolated boy growing up in a grim, costal town after his father died in the Falkland's war.

Over the course of the holidays, he finds comfort in his new-found friends where he discovers a world of parties, drugs, love and racism. Shawn meets Combo, an older, racist skinhead who has recently been released from prison. As the targeted demographic, we begin to see the films ideology through the character lens of Combo and his actions. One of the primary scenes we see of Combo is him harassing the towns ethnic minorities which therefore illustrates a nationalist image of Combo to the audience. We again recognise this in the scene where Combo gifts Shawn with a Union Jack. This scene intertwines with another ideology that runs through the film; "masculinity"

Trainspotting; Overdose scene 1

Trainspotting; Overdose Scene

At the outset of the scene, we see Mark Renton pounce into the low shot of the bedsit. The audience automatically makes the assumption that Renton has reverted back to his "old" drug abusing self. Renton and Swanney ( the supplier of Heroin), make the exchanging of drugs seem a comical and restaurant like through the use of the dialogue.

The scene then moves on to Renton passed out on the floor, when Swanney then says "Sir, would you like me to call a taxi.", this is a continuation of the inside restaurant joke which actually means "Should I call an ambulance ?". The camera quickly shifts to a longshot of an ambulance which the demographic actually assumes is for Renton but ironically the ambulance drives past Renton in the middle of the road.

Throughout the scene, the non-diegetic music which is playing is written and sung by a Heroin addict and the lyrics is a metaphor for overdosing and death via drugs. The overdose does not come to a shock to the nurses & doctors at the hospital but implies that it is a second nature to them. In the 1980's Heroin and drug abuse was not uncommon, we see this in how supportive Renton's parents are after the over dose and during the detox. 



Maggie Thatcher Information

Information On Margret Thatcher

School Milk Controversy;

The Conservative government had to find substantial cuts to meet election pledges on tax.Removing free school milk for the over seven’s became the most notorious saving introduced.Edward Short, then Labour education spokesman said scrapping milk was ‘the meanest and most unworthy thing’ he had seen in 20 years.It earned Mrs Thatcher the nickname, Milk Snatcher, and haunted her throughout her career. In 1985 she was refused an honorary degree from Oxford University because of her education cuts.After the war under Clement Attlee the 1946 Free Milk Act was passed providing `one third of a pint to all children

under the age of 18.Previous research had linked poor nutrition, low income and underachievement.

Unions;

 

Margaret Thatcher's governments weakened the powers of the unions in the 1980s, in particular by making it more difficult to strike legally, and some within the British trades union movement criticised Tony Blair's Labour government for not reversing some of Thatcher's changes

 

Miners;

 

Margaret Thatcher, like her predecessor governments, closed coal mines because they were uneconomic tax guzzlers and the unions were preventing the opening up of new energy sources which could benefit the British people and the economy.In early 1984, the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher announced plans to close 20 coal pits which led to the year-long miners' strike which ended in March 1985.In 1964, 545 mines where open, but Labour governments shut down 326 of them, more than half. When Thatcher took over, the pace of closures actually slowed, with only 6 closing in her first year as Prime Minister.

 

How does the American's entry onto the beach convey the destruction and confusion of the film?

The Americans entry onto the beach in Apocalypse now conveys destruction and confusion whilst also portraying the underlying messages of the film.

In the scene lots of different aspects contribute to the sense of confusion, one being the fast editing and the way this makes the switch between scenes more apparent which makes the editing not invisible and makes the scene harder to watch. The editing also add to the mayhem in the scene and makes you use all of your senses and almost makes the audience have a sensory overload.

In this beginning of the scene , Kilgore starts to play "Rise of the Valkyries" to put his men in the "fighting" state of mind, this portrays Kilgore as childish and playing a game rather than the tough and mature leader he is stereotypically supposed to be.

Throughout the scene, a wide variety of camera shots are used to suggest many different messages and emotion. Firstly we see a long shot of a brief rainbow, many have made references of the ideology of Eden or paradise beyond destruction , this then disappears and we see a  pararomic shot which pans over the destruction that has taken place. This juxtaposes the previous camera shot and reinforces the sense of confusion.

The characters also add to the sense of confusion by contradicting to their "known" personas, for example, Captain Willard stays calm and shows little to no emotion whereas in previous scenes he has been the character to show the most emotion; e.g the first time we meet him.

Comparison of Apocalypse Now & Casablanca

In this essay I will be comparing the similarities and differences between the  films; Apocalypse Now (1979) and Casablanca (1943).

Apocalypse Now (1979),  was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who also was the director of the Godfather Trilogy. The film was based around  Joseph Conrad's book "The Heart Of Darkness" which follows the story of a solider who is set a assination mission for a colonel that has gone mad and is following his own rules.

Similarly in Casablanca (1943),  directed by Michael Curtiz was based around a play called "Everybody Comes to Rick's". Warner Brothers received the play 2 days after Pearl Harbour had taken place.

Although the narratives of films contrast completely , both films are considered to be classics in film making as it set the pathway for the ideology of the auteur and highly collaborative films.

As an audience, we first see the contrast between the films from the opening scene.


From the outset of Apocalypse Now, the audience already grasps the sense of uncertainty that the film carries through out. The juxtaposition of the two shot fading in and out of each other, convey not only the films sense of uncertainty but also the protagonists state of mind. This is reinforced by the synthised , non-diegetic sound of helicopters  

Who Is Creatively Responsible For Casablanca's Success?

Many people pinpoint Casablanca's iconic fame to one name; Warner Brothers. However, a large amount of multitalented individuals inside of the intuition brought Casablanca together and made it the iconic trailblazer it is 80 years later.

Some would say that Casablanca's fame was based off of elements of luck and well they are right! Days after Pearl Harbor, Warner Brothers received a play called " Everybody comes to Rick's" which was the  base line narrative for Casablanca. Even though the film was based off of the play, there was not a set ending until the last day of filming.

Casablanca was a very highly collaborative film with over 50 different roles involved. Michael Curtiz, the director of Casablanca and over 173 other films, brought iconic elements to the film such as empathy. Being a refugee of the war himself, he brought knowledge and experience and placed it into the set, dialogue and style of the film. 

Throughout the film, the director of photography; Arthur Edeson , portrays the emotion of each scene through the lighting and miss-en-scene. A lot of dark lighting and shadow was used to represent the intimate and intensity of the narrative. Casablanca didn't mind looking artificial as they wanted to place the audience into a fantasy that they could relate to and recognize why certain objects or lighting was put there (mise-en-scene) and to tell the narrative alongside the dialogue, this disobeyed the classical style and made Casablanca stand out from other films at the time.

Orry-Kelly, Costume designer for Casablanca, used the costumes to set a mood but to also portray the multitude of different classes and ethnicity's. Hats were a key factor in setting the mood, especially in the penultimate scene where the hats cast shadows over different parts of different characters to set an ambiguous tone. Orry-Kelly also set a specific colour palette for each character, for example the "Heroic" characters had a soft palette and the "Villain" characters had a darker, more harsh palette.

Casablanca wouldn't be Casablanca without the famous editing and music. Owen Marks used invisible editing to show the different perspectives of each character and to convey the different emotions though out the narrative. The glue to the film was really the music, Max Steiner reinforced the narrative by using iconic sounds and the infamous song "As time goes by" which is featured throughout the film as an anchor to the 2 protagonist and their love; Ingrid Birdman, Ilsa and Humphrey Bogart, Rick.

Ironically, as the filming for Casablanca was coming to an end, allies landed in Casablanca to fight against the Nazi's in World War 2. This gained Casablanca a lot of publicity and the majority off the audience went to view the film to feel patriotic and show support to the troops fighting. The film touched people’s emotions and gave them something to relate to (Uses and Gratification Theory).