Trainspotting 1996- Danny Boyle

Trainspotting is a adaption of Irvine Welshe's cult novel. Both the book and film give open minded audiences an insight into the struggle between the escape of drugs and the realism of the struggle whilst sober, poor and jobless.  We follow the Anti-Hero and protagonist, Mark Renton who tried to escape the grip of heroin. The journey he takes in order to get away from the grip of heroin is similar to that of many other people. He can almost be seen to be a representative of the struggle people on drugs in the UK.

The film is based around on the different stages of getting away from all elements of heroin, physical, mental and social. One scene that is symbolic of showing how difficult it can be for a person when he goes back to his parents house and being locked in his old room. One key element of the scene that shows the struggle is the fact he is locked in his own room. This represents that at the end of the day his struggle is personal, no matter who he depends upon, he is the only person who can get himself out of the mess he is in. The grip of heroin addiction has him in a personal, like his locked room. 

Another way in which this scene represents the struggle is when the room gets longer. This is him hallucinating, showing withdrawal symptoms from the drug, but the increasing size of the room can almost be seen as a personification of the typical saying "It always gets worse before it gets better".  His problems such as; addiction and hallucinations get increasing worse than other time in the film, hence the room increasing in size. Boyle uses Mark's childhood as a symbol as his addiction catching up on him.

The death of the baby is a turning point of the film into a much darker place. Before the death of the baby, the group were taking heroin, they were having having happy trips and didn't have a second thought about any responsibilities. Despite not knowing how the baby died, the audience can only be presume it was due to neglect. Despite this being a turning point in the film, we can see the effects of baby's death during the scene in Mark's childhood room. The baby can be seen to be crawling on the ceiling, this part of the scene almost feels like a haunting due to the creepiness of the baby crawling on the ceiling. This is effective in taking the audience to a darker place with Mark. Boyle uses the baby to present the severity of the problems surrounding drug addictions that are not just personal 

 

From Dusk Till Dawn 1996- Robert Rodriguez

From Dusk Till Dawn in directed by Robert Rodriguez directed the film and Tarantino wrote the screenplay, therefore we can see elements of Tarantino's traits in this film. Tarantino also stars in the film alongside George Clooney. Rodriguez also directed Sin City. Sin City and From Dusk Till Dawn, are both of the thriller and drama genre which is typical of Rodriguez films, despite having no particular traits in his film the violence and gore could be thanks to Rodriguez's experience in thriller films and Tarantino's classic over the top gore.

At the beginning of the film, the mise en scene is a vital tool used to give the audience context. George Clooney and Tarantino play two brothers; Seth and Richie Gecko. The fact that they are brothers are not mentioned at the very start of the film. The brothers have a similar haircut and both wear a suit. This is not exactly clear in highlighting the fact that they are brothers but the audience can only be left to believe that they are brothers due to their similarities. Another way in which Rodriguez shows the audience that they are brothers are through the relationship Seth and Richie have. The arguments they have might not be about irrelevant or petty topics, but the way in which they argue is almost childish and hints at their relationship.

Seth appears to be the more sensible brother. We can see this fact through his actions throughout the film, mainly through his actions towards his Richie. One example of this is the liqueur store robbery. Seth's approach to the robbery is methodical and clear whereas Richie practically ruins the plan and unnecessarily kills a man. Richie's lack of common sense and his straight up methods of killing could possibly highlight his mental issues. These are not mentioned in the film, but Richie's mental health is questionable. He does not hesitate to kill and appears to not realise what he has done unlike his brother. He was also convicted of rape in the film.

During the scene when Richie, rapes and kills an innocent women. Seth tells Richie off, during this an image of the dead body flashes on the screen. One thing this could connote is Richie's mental issues. Perhaps the image of the dead body sticks in Richie's mind in a positive way. He appears to be almost distracted by the thought of it until Seth is violent towards him. Another thing this scene could be connoting is the severity of Richie's actions. The flashing causes tension and creates the effect of seeing the horrifying image whenever you blink. This also balances the two issues of rape and murder. One is not esculated, they are both highlighted at the same time, this in turn creates tension for the audience.

Script

https://www.celtx.com/auth/public/resource/696uhx86

Crazy Stupid Love 2011- Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Crazy Stupid Love 2011- Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Ficarra and Requa have worked together in films of the same comedy genre such as; I love you Phillip Morris and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Crazy Stupid Love is one of their more recent films with bigger actors compared to other films they have made.

Crazy Stupid Love has a theme of love running through it. Not only romantic love but friendship love. We can see the friendship love between Cal and Jacob. At the beginning of the film Cal looses his wife and turns to drinking at the bar as his way of coping. At first, Jacob’s attention towards Cal can be perceived as pity. This pity towards Cal can show Jacob’s initial personality; cocky, selfish and not in touch with his feelings. Despite being hesitant, Cal accepts Jacob’s help. Cal appears to be the one struggling, due to his situation, but we can see Jacob struggling to actually make a friend. Yes, he is a charmer and can easily get his way with women, but we can see his is not sure how to approach friends and this makes the audience question if he actually has a true friend.

A lot of the scenes with Cal and Jacob at the beginning of the film take place in the bar. The lighting is very low and with quite warm hues, such as orange. This lighting can connote the initial relationship between Cal and Jacob. The lighting can suggest that the relationship between the two has yet to blossom. The darkness of the lighting connotes the un-solved problems the two has, as the problems have a dark effect on both characters, especially Cal. The warmness can connote the fact that the two get on well, the intentions of the friendship is pure and will end up to have positive effects on both characters.

Hannah and Cal break Jacob. Cal is significant to Jacob, as he appears to be his first true friend. Even though the relationship between them is one sided at one point, Jacob makes no references to having any other friends in the film apart from Cal. When finding his happiness with Hannah, Cal is the first person he calls for relationship advice. This can connote Jacob moving on from his “player” days and almost moving his old self onto Cal. Hannah is significant to Jacob as she sees through his is tricks to “play” her like he would typically do to a woman. Hannah appears to be the girl he needs to help him settle down. On the other hand, Jacob is the person that steps her away from her job and the serious and boring group of friends that came with. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have now appeared in three films together; Crazy Stupid Love, Gangster Squad and La La Land.

As much as Crazy Stupid Love is about Cal and finding his new self, in style and personality, Crazy Stupid is also about Jacob finding what he needs in life to settle down in life, rather than women and alcohol.