Critical Investigation Task #1 Textual Analysis

Multiple elements of the opening (Equilibrium state, Todorov) force an audience to pity and empathise with Richard's character. In particular, the medium close up of him mournfully admiring his daughters drawing mid-way between long shots capturing him frantically packing up his belongings, after being evicted from his hostel, immediately allow an audience to build a (Personal Relationship - Blumbler and Katz), with the recovering heroin addict. An audience are presented with an array of events that ultimately comprise the life of one in the state of a drug recovery scenes and the predicaments that they find themselves in, i.e. the medium close up of an addict taking an intake of heroin. In terms of Gauntlett's idea of the "media opposing censorship", this allows audiences to be educated by the graphic material to engage with the narrative further.  Other events involve him missing a counselling meeting (long shot, tungsten white balance, creating a cool blue effect complimentary with the hospital location and bumping into his angry ex-wife (binary opposite; the stable parent, also tapping towards the stereotypical, black C demographic lone parent family view). 

Richard finds himself parallel to the classical sombre music which displays him to be walking alone on the bare grey pavements through a variety of high angle, bird’s eye view and medium long shots. This not only reiterates the loneliness that his character has embodied but it also portrays him to be an outsider and outcast from the rest of the society that he is living in – often a trait associated “junkies”. Medhurst would support the attention to detail set upon the specific stereotypical mannerisms and overall mis-en-scene to present this stereotypical " recovering drug addict" identity clearer to an audience.  Despite the strong sense of upset personifying the character, through the non-diagetic sound bridge, there is a transition of hope. This 'hope' is found through medium long shot capturing the tungsten lit streets glistening upon the crimson car door which is slightly ajar. His endearingly creepy yet hopeful face lights up and he sets inside his new home up for the night. This contrasts significantly; with the crisp lighting which wakes him up, followed by a medium close up of a white man (Binary opposite, in terms of social class) peering into the rear mirror at him. This is followed by the long shot of an old worn out estate beside a white Victorian house that almost accentuates the social divide between the two males – one, a black heroin addict and the second, a white B demographic business man.

Richard finds himself pleading to his mother for support, which is the first conversation where extreme close ups present the upset emotion and lifeless spirit within his character as he states “Please mum?”. This juxtaposes with his mother’s lack of maternal instincts as she simply hands him money to “get yourself cleaned up”. This money acts as an action code (Barthes), planting the seed upon an audience – will he return to the dreadful drug dependent lifestyle or use the money wisely. With the action code set into place, the next scene reverts to Richard conversing with his ex-dealer. The scene begins with a black tinted Audi, reiterating the illegal and criminal persona of the dealer as he proceeds to state “Old Man Rich”. The nickname implies close relations, however the adjective of ‘old’ provides the audience with a sense of faith and relief that he has been clean for a very long time. The dealer’s direct approach in instigating a conversation with Richard “Have you seen Jon Jon?” (Fellow heroin addict), is reinforced through the stillness of the camera contrasting with the slight wobbles that compliment with the uncertainty and uneasiness that Richard is feeling. This discomfort is accentuates as the dealer asks “Do you have a line, just in case you make a turn?”, in which Richard responds shaking his head “I’m alright, but thank you”. And for the first time, he directly looks at the dealing in the eye. The diagetic dialogue finalises with the dealer stating “You’ll gfet hungry soon, you lot always do” and then he drives away. The use of ‘hungry’ is animalising to Richard’s character and demeaning, evoking further pity amongst an audience for him.

The journey in which an audience witness Richard to set out on is almost like a path of temptation, full of obstacles in which he is forced to face. This is highlighted through the "heroin addict reunion", which is set in a dirty room, encrusted with beer cans, alcohol bottles and additional drug addict paraphernalia. The shot is low lit and there is little natural lighting peaking through the curtains reiterating the sense of isolation that drug addicts live in. The roles of the other characters, such as ‘Jon Jon’ are violent and desperate, alongside the female ‘Liz’ which is gaunt and needy, contrasting greatly with the passivity in Richard illustrating his change in well being. In regards to Berger's comment "men act, women appear", within this scene it is underlined through the emptiness expressed in the character of 'Liz' opposing with the dominant males. It is almost as though this group presents an audience with a hierarchy, one which Richard finds himself at the top of – passive and collected in comparison with the others who struggle to speak and are desperate for a bit of “brown”. This is enforced through the medium close up after ‘Jon Jon’ taking a hit of ‘brown’ and then stating a word inarticulately. One common denominator between them is the murky grey and blue clothes that they wear, essentially labelling them as a group of drug addicts, together, which underlines them as outcasts from the colourful life surrounding them.

A moment, in which Richard stands tall, is his rejection of the drug (Car scene with Liz).