Trainspotting Analysis

The aesthetic quality of 'Trainspotting' depicts youth and drug addiction through editing, camera work and mise en scene. In the opening scene the first key detail is the non-diegetic soundtrack, Iggy Pop's song is lively and upbeat which matches with the pace of Renton and Spud running away from the security guards, the camera starts with a low angle establishing shot that shows us the setting, a busy street in Scotland. It then cuts to a mid-shot of both of them running, even though the focus is on them we can still see the security guards they are running from in the background, the use of this mid shot is close enough for us to see their faces and emotions but also distant enough for us to see their surroundings. The camera uses a tracking shot for this frame which ensures it is kept at a mid-shot. It then cuts to a low angle shot that shows us the security guards behind them to show the audience what they are running from. We can see a shot reverse shot between their faces and their feet running and at the same time we hear a non-diegetic narrative of Renton talking about choosing life and doing all the things people are supposed to do which we can see is ironic considering they have clearly committed a crime. As an audience we can see that it is Renton who is narrating this scene because the camera cuts to a low angle shot of him in front, the camera looks up to him and shows he is in the lead. The scene cuts to a shot of him running down some steps as he is running away and as he gets down the tracking shot starts again that remains on his face/upper body to show us his facial expressions. The scene then uses a POV shot as he approaches a corner and a car quickly swerves round. The car hits him but he doesn’t seem phased at all as he stands there laughing in the window, as an audience we can tell this makes him unusual because this isn't a usual reaction to being hit by a car. The fact they are running in this scene symbolises them running away from life and responsibilities, this is reinforced by Renton's narrative about life as all of this is happening. In most of this scene the camera looks very handheld which shows the situation to be very chaotic. This scene is actually from the middle of the film where they steal things to get money for drugs so the fact the film maker has used this for the opening scene links to enigma code and makes the audience question what is happening and why.   

It then cuts to a mid-shot of Renton standing inside his house whilst smoking, the setting he is in looks dirty and we can huge holes in the wall which tells us that he lives in very poor conditions – typical of a drug user. It then cuts to a long shot of the same room which shows us how empty it is and gives us mo0re of an image of where he lives. We then get another scene being shot at the same time which shows Renton and the others playing football, this scene helps us to identify the different characters by showing us who they are, their names and some of the characteristics they hold. The fact they are playing football links to masculinity and how people weren't as masculine as they used to be which Renton goes on to talk about further in the film. The shot where Renton gets hit in the head with a football creates a cross cut between him falling down because of the football and him falling in his house because he's taking drugs, as he falls on the football pitch, it cuts to his head landing on his head in his house. This symbolises him being at a very low point in his life because of his drug use. This shot shows the background and the other people within it but only focuses on Renton as he exhales smoke. The camera then pans down his whole body as he is laying on the floor and zooms out to show the wall behind him which shows a drawing of a woman. 

The camera then pans around the house as if someone is walking down the hallway, the shot shows two doorways side by side and you can see into each room, the first one is where they are all sitting, taking heroin. The colours of the room are darker and we can see a lot of red which usually symbolises danger. The walls in that room also look a lot more damaged. In the second room, we can see the baby crawling on the floor, the lighting in this room is higher key and colours such as green are used to represent new life, this room also looks a lot less empty than the first one.  

The next scene which also depicts the extent of drug use in this film is the toilet scene. This scene is made to set your stomach on edge, the setting is disgusting, the bathroom uses low key lighting and the colours are dull to show the dirt. Once Renton has used the toilet, he realised he's lost the suppositories and outs his hands in the toilet to retrieve them. This shows us how desperate he is to have the drugs. This scene also symbolises how crazy he is due to the drugs, as his whole body starts to fall into the toilet, the audience can see that this is the use of hyper-realism and that it's his imagination. It then cuts to him swimming in dark waters that are supposed to be in the toilet but it has a completely different tone to it, the water isn't dirty and it resembles the ocean, there is what looks like sunlight at the top which makes the water glisten. The non-diegetic soundtrack is very fantasised and mystical to reinforce the idea that it is only his imagination. He finds his suppositories and swims back up to the surface. The scene cuts back to reality of him pulling himself out of the toilet. This depicts drug use because it shows the extent junkies will go to just for drugs. This idea is constant throughout the whole film.