Thinking about film - introducing Trainspotting

Today we started off by considering aspects which you folks decided contribute to a good film. There were lots of ideas. There was a sense that a good story (or narrative) was very important. Of course, that begs the question "what makes a good story?" - some suggestions touched on the answer to this by saying that things like climax/anti-climax are important (these are parts of the story/narrative structure).

Another important aspect was a good cast and crew and soundtrack.

Other elements which contributed to a good film that were mentioned were good location, style before substance, comedy ....

This led into our viewing of the first hour or so of "Trainspotting". We paused it here and there for some discussion and talked about things like the representation of Scotland (Braveheart came out that same year); representation of drugs; an evaluation of Renton; how realistic the film is; the use of colour and music; references to other films ...

The class finished with everyone writing down there initial thoughts on the film so far. Again, it your ability to communicate in written words and in discussion that interests me.

We'll continue with the film and the discussion next week.