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.