Basic InformationReleased: February 23rd, 1996Director: Danny Boyle

Based on the book ‘Trainspotting’ by Irvine Welsh.

Danny Boyle’s cult film about junkies in mid-nineties Edinburgh has a rather interesting history at the BBFC.

Plot: A wild, freeform, rebellious trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends: Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy, dimwit Spud, psycho Begbie, 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them…

the film was passed at 18 and opened to huge critical acclaim. Derek Malcolm of The Guardian called Trainspotting ‘an extraordinary achievement and a breakthrough British film’ and Empire magazine awarded it a maximum five stars. The film enjoyed an extremely successful run at the cinema, occupying the number one slot for a number of weeks, and the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award.

ControversiesThe film’s main classification issue is drug use and there are several detailed scenes of heroin abuse throughout the work. There are close-ups of heroin being heated on a spoon and sucked into a syringe, detail of the tying of tourniquets around arms in order to raise veins for easier injection and, in the strongest scene, an extreme close-up of a needle puncturing the lead character’s skin. We also see characters taking ecstasy and smoking marijuana.

Though drug-taking is Trainspotting’s most contentious classification issue, the film’s language, sex and violence also place it at 18. There are several uses of strong language (‘f***’ and ‘motherf*****’) as well as nineteen uses of ‘c***’, a word that BBFC Guidelines state should be only infrequently used at 15. There are a couple of strong sex scenes, with full-frontal nudity, implied fellatio and some thrusting and an image of a dead baby lying in its cot is as shocking now as it was when the film was first released.

BASIC INFORMATIONReleased: April 27th 2007Director: Shane Meadows

Plot: 12 year old Shaun lives with his widowed mother in a small town in Britain. His father, an army officer, was one of the Falkland casualties. A loner, he is befriended by some older skinhead youth, who shave off his hair, date an older young woman, and subsequently introduce him to ex-convict Combo. Shaun unwittingly volunteers to be part of Combo's gang, and is taken to a meeting hosted by Britain's right-winged National Front, which openly advocates ethnic cleansing; re-defines Racism as Reality; and Nazism as Nationalism. Combo then takes his followers on a spree of sword and knife-wielding terror, looting a corner store run by Sandhu, all eventually get stoned and violence ensues.

CONTROVERSIESThis is England was awarded an 18 certificate in 2007 for very strong racist violence. The film also contains some aggressive uses of very strong language. The use of the word 'c***' was exacerbated by its combination with the highly offensive racist terms ‘w*g’, 'P**i', 'n****r' and 'c**n'. The question of whether the work could be contained at the 15 category was carefully considered, given the potential appeal and relevance to a younger audience. A number of scenes and elements placed the work on the 15/18 borderline: • The scene in which Combo verbally and physically threatens an Asian shop keeper whose shop he and his gang have just robbed and defiled. He calls the shop keeper a 'Paki cunt' and violently swings a machete into the shop keeper’s face deliberately scaring him. The threat is palpable and realistic, even though no blood is shed

• The representation of racist ideology as attractive to the child character Sean, and the artful ambiguous presentation of his developing world view and the impact of racist views upon this • Sight of Combo threatening some children, racially abusing them and stroking a serrated knife along their cheeks.

CONTROVERSIES CONT.The strongest scene however, which took the work to 18, was towards the end of the film when a vulnerable character, Milky, is subjected to a brutal and realistic racist attack. The attack shows Sean’s idol, Combo, start to punch and pummel his mixed race friend Milky’s face, kicking and stamping on it. Some of this is shown from Milky's perspective and has a particularly visceral edge, despite the lack of blood or gory detail. It is realistic, intense and shocking with sudden tension as the scene changes from a drinking and smoking session to a verbal diatribe and possibly lethal beating.

The key factors which therefore placed This is England at 18, rather than 15 are:

• The violence is directed against a vulnerable character – Milky is easily the most gentle of all the characters, vulnerable throughout because of his race and lulled into a false sense of security in the scene leading up to the attack • The violence and language are unexpected and shocking – the scene starts very calmly; the other characters don't realise what's about to happen • The scene is distressing – we see most of the film through Shaun's eyes and he is especially upset and confused by what is happening • Repeated aggressive use of the word 'c***' along with racist terms within the scene.

Need:• Film• Date• Content• Controversies• Cuts• Issues of concern• If historical, would these issues

remain today?• Illustrate work with stills as

appropriate.

This Is EnglandTrainspotting