Trainspotting Context

Question 1

Political

How long was the conservative governments jurisdiction

Thatcher not Prime Minister by 1990

Answer 1

20 years

1979-1997

Question 2

Political

When did the AIDs epidemic start

Answer 2

1981

Question 3

Political

When did Poll Tax start and end

For Scotland

Answer 3

1989-1991

Question 4

Political

How long was New Labours jurisdiction

Answer 4

13 years

1997-2010

Question 5

Institutional

Why was Channel 4 Films (Film4) the financer

giving £1.5 million

Answer 5

their films subject matter was often deemed contreversial and left field

Question 6

What did privitisation cause

Answer 6

the closure of traditional industries (coal mining, car manufacturing)

Question 7

How many were unemployed by 1983

Answer 7

3.6 million

Question 8

What’s special about Edinburgh

Answer 8

Produced most of the worlds opiate drugs

Question 9

What is the ‘Scottish Effect’

Answer 9

15% mortality rate

Question 10

What did Irvine Welsh say about the government

Answer 10

“The Governments creating the demand”

Question 11

How was Generation X described

Answer 11

Disillusioned with life, malaise

Question 12

What is neo-marxism

Answer 12

a belief that extended the marxist socialist ideologies that instead of rejecting capitalism, we have to recognise and work along side it

Question 13

What is a modular aesthetic

Answer 13

mini episodes

Question 14

generic formulas

What make up a drug film

Answer 14

dream like hallucinatory style, effects of drug taking on onself and, their family and friends

Question 15

generic formulas

What make up a social underclass film

Answer 15

focus on lower class, gloomy/grunge aesthetic, focus on political movements and its affect on people, similar (real life) locations and costumes, character arcs, realist aesthetic, government is the villain

Question 16

Narrative devices

Answer 16

in media res, V/O, binary opposition, flshbacks/forwards, editing, soundtrack

Question 17

where is Trainspotting shot

Answer 17

highrise flats in Leith, Edinburgh

Question 18

why was Leith, Edinburgh chosen as Trainspotting location

Answer 18

Leith highlights a forgotten Scottish underclass that lived in extreme poverty and social deprivation

Question 19

what is a formalist narrative

Answer 19

where it is clear that the spectator is watching a made up story

Question 20

how does Renton’s selfish act effect the course of narratives

Answer 20

Causes Tommy’s death by stealing his sex tape and giving his heroin

Question 21

from whose perspective is Trainspotting filmed from

Answer 21

Renton, a white male Scottish perspective

Question 22

how are the responsibilities of Gen X represented in Trainspotting

Answer 22

Gen X is unable to give life to a new generation

Question 23

who juxtaposes the typical representations of Gen X

Answer 23

school girl Diane

Question 24

how do representations of Diane offer a generational difference

Answer 24

1. more in control of her sexuality and destiny
2. represented as bright and intelligent

Question 25

how are Renton's parents represented in Trainspotting

Answer 25

Renton's parents are caring and sympathetic, which contrasts normal social realist dramas where older people are out of touch and mean

Question 26

what is the predominant role of women in Trainspotting's narrative

Answer 26

largely love interests to the main protagonists

Question 27

who are the women in Trainspotting

Answer 27

1. Allison (baby Dawn's mother) 2. Gail (Spud's girlfriend) 3. Lizzy (Tommy's girlfriend) 4. Diane

Question 28

does Trainspotting offer any sexually shocking representations

Answer 28

Renton has sex with a schoolgirl (Diane)

Question 29

what is the main message regarding intimacy in Trainspotting

Answer 29

there is little human/human intimacy and is replaced by heroin

Question 30

what is the exposition

Answer 30

the introduction of the main characters, genre, and setting

Question 31

what is the narrative agent

Answer 31

the introduction of an incident or character which establishes the storyline

Question 32

what is problem/dilemma/enigma

Answer 32

an event which affects the protagonists life

Question 33

what is the problem/development stage

Answer 33

where tension is highest and the protagonist and antagonist meet

Question 34

what is the resolution

Answer 34

the end of the film where stability is re-established

Question 35

why does Trainspotting deviate from the classic 5-point narrative structure

Answer 35

represents the rejection of capitalism and mainstream views

Question 36

what is a restrictive narrative

Answer 36

one where you only see and hear the prespective of one character (Renton in Trainspotting)

Question 37

what does Begbie represent

Answer 37

Welsh wrote him as a repressed homosexual whose random acts of violence were motivated out of being outed

Question 38

how is the narrative divided in Trainspotting

Answer 38

largely linear with a few flashbacks (creating alignment with Renton)

Question 39

why did Danny Boyle choose a modular aesthetic, and mainly linear narrative

Answer 39

to represent the characters chaotic life and deviate from cinematic norms

Question 40

how does Renton's characteristics reflect him being Gen X

Answer 40

he is disillusioned and alienated with society, believing that heroin is just another commodity

Question 41

what does film theorist Patrick Phillips suggest about audiences and narrative shape

Answer 41

audience gains pleasure from the narrative shape and often favour a positive resolution

Question 42

how does Trainspotting try and provide narrative shape for the spectator

Answer 42

Renton moving to London seems like a resolution and start of a better life

Question 43

what are the negatives to applying an ideological critical approach

Answer 43

1. no contextual knowledge 2. no use of film form 3. no narrative devices/structure 4. no personal response

Question 44

what could Trainspotting be better to study instead of an ideological critical approach

Answer 44

1. narrative 2. context 3. aesthetics of film form