Compare the representations of men in Nottinghill and Trainspotting?

In both Nottinghill and Trainspotting, there are different representations of men portrayed. They are completely different from one another and can be contrasted due to many factors, the audience, institution, the ideology and language.
The main character in Nottinghill, Will Thacker, is a soft and gentlemanly man, however this is and unrealistic exaggerated stereotype. We know this as the technical side of the production reinforces this, with the use of slow pace editing and camera movement, and cross dissolve transitions. Will Thacker is also a simple character, which is again shown by the plain mise en scene around him, with costume, setting (the use of whites) but also the lighting, being bright and flattering.
The reason Will Thacker becomes almost unrealistic is because he is idealised, this is strongly because of the genre, rom-com, he plays the lovable but impossible hero figure, for example he lives in an apartment in Nottinghill, however he is running a failing travel bookstore. This in reality would be impossible, however to appeal to the audience Will has to be likable where a poor character would not be as relatable to a mainstream audience. As the film is a rom-com, (romantic comedy) a comical character had to be written into the storyline, in this case spike. Spike is a welsh man, which immediately is a technique used for humour, with the welsh accent. Spike is also messy which, tying in with his welsh background is a contrast to the English gentlemen character of Will.
The audience is another strong factor in why Will Thacker is this character that he is. As this film is a mainstream production, created for a mainstream audience, the writers and production team made sure the audience can relate to Will by firstly making him British and RP, but also the actor used, Hugh Grant, plays this character a number of times, 4 weddings…love actually and about a boy, where he plays similar characters in each.
In terms of institution, the film is a ‘British film’, however this can be debated. Yes it was written and directed by British teams, however firstly it was funded by Universal, which would have created studio pressure to deliver to their American standards. The second reason why the term ‘British film’ is questionable is because of the casting of Julia Roberts, who was paid 15million to play this role, where Hugh Grant was paid 4million. This is the representation of men in Nottinghill, soft and gentle and mainly the exaggerated British gentleman stereotype.
When comparing the representations of men with this and Trainspotting, there is a significant difference. The main character in Trainspotting, Renton, is a ‘cool’ druggie, which is portrayed by the harsh storyline about taking heroine. In Nottinghill Will Thacker is Propps ‘hero’ character, however in Trainspotting, Renton is the ‘anti-hero’ due to his rebellious activities, his blatant drug abuse and lack of respect, however yet as the audience we still like and relate to him, this is because of the other side of Renton, his style, wit, and young charm.
Just like Nottinghill, the audience had a big part to play in creating the different representations in Trainspotting. With the young rave culture of the 90s, brit’-pop and lad culture being established (with the first published ‘lads mag’ loaded), the chosen audience was this area within the social classes and therefore also in terms of institution, indie. As the film has many links to what was occurring in society, it is more realistic than Nottinghill, however still partly glamorised, which is done by using surrealism.
Technically, the way Renton is portrayed as this drug abuser is using appropriate camera, editing, mise en scene and music. A good example of this is the scene where Renton gets high and falls to the floor. The reason why this is a fine example is because of the techniques used. Firstly the camera work is significant as close ups and point of view shots are used to draw the audience in to the activity taking place. The editing also does this, by cutting in specific parts that create an enticing effect. The mise en scene is the key in this chapter, because, as Renton hits the floor onto the dirty red carpet, the story converts from realism to surrealism. We know this due to the fact he falls through the floor into a coffin like shot, with the camera tracking him from a bird’s eye view. Not only does the camera, editing and mise en scene support the representation of drug abuse, but also even the non diegetic music in the background “perfect day” by lou Reed.
The institutional factors also have a large part to play in why this film can carry out its representation of men in this film. Film 4 created Trainspotting; therefore it is an art house/indie film, not a mainstream production. This also meant the budget was significantly lower than a film such as Notting hill, (£3,500,000 for Trainspotting and grossed £8,892,946 where as Notting hill was $43,000,000). This meant the actors that were chosen to play their roles in Trainspotting were lower budget and less known, Ewen McGreggor, who at the time was not well known, Robert Caryle who plays Begbie and Ewen Bremner who plays Spud, all u known and all British. All this contributes in creating the representation of men in this film, because they can all be related to the audience because of their low status.
Finally when studying the ideology behind Trainspotting, we can incorporate Propps character theory in saying Renton is the anti-hero, as he has a massive rebellious nature, drugs, sex and being poor, however we still love his charm and wit. Also we have the villain, Begbie who has no nice qualities and is a vial, selfish violent and arrogant man. Therefore the ideology behind it is confusing and contrasting.
Both Trainspotting and Notting hill portray different representations of men, and are completely different. On the one side you have Will Thacker in Notting hill, this gentle kind hero character however unrealistic due to the fact he is living in an expensive area in an apartment, whilst owning a failing travel bookshop. This is due to the audience being mainstream and expecting a rom-com, but also despite it being a ‘British film’ the Dollar funding and the use of Julia Roberts, would of created studio pressure for the directors to create an exaggerated stereotype of the English gentlemen. Then on the complete opposite side, Trainspotting, an independent film 4 production, aimed at the youth of Britain, creates a harsh realist representation of the drug culture in the ‘ends’ of Scotland. This immediately means the technical aspects of the directing will significantly differ to Notting hills’ moderately slow pace camera work and editing, with soft lighting and mise en scene as it uses fast, cutting edge editing and camera work, drifting between real and surreal scenes, experimenting with the extent of the audiences mind. All of these factors together help in creating the strong realist, slightly glamorised, representation of the male side of the late 80s early 90s drug and rave culture in Britain, more specifically Scotland, and the negative effects it has on not only the drug abusers themselves but also the relatives and friends of those who take heroine.

ANGRILI ON TRAINSPOTTING

Audience

The audience for trainspotting was originally aimed mainly at the young, British rave culture of the 90s, however due to the extremely strong message it possesses expanded the audience from this niche market to an audience consisting of the young through to the old (15-50), both male and female are targeted due to the characters involved, Renton played by Ewan Mcgreggor, the main character, relates to the audience as a son, a friend and a boyfriend figure. Also the amount of situations the characters get involved create room for more areas of the public to relate to this film and the happenings in it.

Narrative

The film is structured almost as a typical film: it begins with a fast pace opening with Renton running away from the police whilst narrating. The characters are all introduced individually with Renton telling the audience who they are, whilst 2 second stills are used. The film uses Propps' character theory:

villain - Begbie

Anti Hero - Renton

Genre

comedy, crime, drama

Representation

Trainspotting represents the drug culture in Britain. Unlike other films it does not glamorize it, the film reflects the reality of the drug and 90s rave culture using also surrealism. The film is most famous for its 'Toilet scene" where Renton put his hands in "the worst toilet in Scotland" to fish out his drugs and ends up diving in and swimming in a sea to find them, this is the first time surrealism is used to relate to drugs, however it is not a negative representation.

Further on through the film the representation of drugs and actual drug taking becomes extremely negative, for example the scene that involves a dead baby. This is the films turning point, where the representation of drugs goes from a weak, slightly humorous view to a harsh and real outlook on the effects on heroine. The types of lighting and setting within the mise en scene are grey low key lighting, and scruffy dirty sets.

Ideology

There are a number of messages and values portrayed within Trainspotting as this was its purpose when created. The main message that comes from this film is the shocking reality of the 90s rave and drug culture how it affected so many of the youth (18+) but also the affects on those who don't get mentioned in press, the mum and dads, the public around them. Also a strong sense of violence runs throughout, this is mainly caused by the character Begbie, who is your bully or villain of society, with scenes of him starting fights for no reason. Danny Boyle the director, uses a number of controversial scenes that are shock tactics to open the audiences' eyes. The main message that runs throughout is the shocking nature of the drug culture, how the drugs directly affect people the before, during and after of taking heroine. This is the reason why the film became so successful, because, the ideology challenges the social values of Scotland but also Britain in a wider picture.

Language

The language in this film does not spare any of that in real life. In terms of swearing this is the same. The language in terms of the 5 areas of media production (camera shots and movement, editing, sound and music, sfx and mise en scene. The camera shots and movement definitely capture the raw emotion of the characters, mainly medium shots are used throughout to create continuity, however a technique that stood out to me was in the scene when renton takes a hit and falls into the floor (surrealism) the camera falls with him, which is an ingenious piece of directing.
As the film consists of fast pace high action scenes, slower dramatic emotional scenes and surreal scenes, the editing has to include a wide range of techniques to support this.
The film is narrated by Ewan McGreggor , in a harsh Scottish accent, but with a soft calm influence.
The mise en scene is one of the most important parts in creating any impression, in this case a grey gloomy one. This is carried out by using low key lighting, grey colours in set, props and costume.

Institution
film 4 (1995), 18
directed by Danny Boyle

"Before its release, the second film from the Shallow Grave team had the chattering classes panicking about the glamorisation of drugs. They needn't have worried. This brutally honest and bitterly funny depiction of life on smack is a definite drugs turn-off."