Compare men in Nottinghill and Trainspotting

Compare and contrast the representation of men in “Nottinghill” and “Trainspotting”.
How would you account for the similarities/differences?

The two films “Nottinghill” and “Trainspotting” both have different ideas as to how they represent the men in the films, and the stories in which are used to show them. For example, Nottinghill is a fantasy love film which relies on surreal events and spending a lot of money on the creation of the film to make it successful. On the other hand, there is the film Trainspotting, which focuses on creating a meaning throughout the film, and creating an impact on the viewer which will be strong enough to convince them to feel a certain way. They paid a very small sum in comparison, and yet became one of the most successful films, and was also able to create a huge debate of controversy as to how it was rumoured to have encouraged drugs, although it’s aim was to do the exact opposite of this.

Within the films, the main characters have a completely different personality and lifestyle. Will Thacker from Nottinghill owns a book shop in a wealthy town, who is in debt and unable to earn enough to cope in his lifestyle, but somehow is able to, whereas Mark Renton from Trainspotting has no future, as he is ‘hooked’ on drug use, and spends all of his money on it. The only real similarity with the two is that they are unsuccessful, and aren’t earning enough money to be able to cope with a stable lifestyle. They do however both change later on, as Will finds himself falling in love with a celebrity film star, which he ends up being in a relationship with, and Renton gets himself off drugs, by ‘cold turkey’, being without anything to take along the way to ease the process, and gains a job as a property seller. Like most films, there is always a happy/positive ending, so you would expect them to change, because they are the main characters, being followed by the camera throughout the film.


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