Trash (Cinema Sreening)

(spoiler free)

Trash was the final film for me this January. The standard has been pretty impressive so far and I was hopeful that Trash could continue this great run for films in 2015 so far. I’m a massive fan of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and I was getting similar vibes from this film, whilst it doesn’t stand up to Slumdog, Trash was still a really solid effort and rounded off January nicely.

Trash is based in Brazil and due to this a large proportion of the film is in subtitles. I really liked this though, it gives a certain authenticity to the picture and gets you more involved. I am really developing a fondness for subtitled movies, more of these would be great. The cast do a great job, the three lads that the film follows; Raphael, Rat and Gardo are all awesome and to my knowledge had no training or experience in acting. All three do so well and they are really convincing in their roles whilst still giving great performances. It was nice to see a few well known faces too in the shape of Martin Sheen and Rooney Mara. Although these actors don’t have a lot to do they offer a good alternative to the three boys at times and they play off each other well. The Brazilian actor Selton Mello plays the bad guy in Trash (Frederico), he does an average job but I never felt threatened by his character, he needed a more villainous streak and as there was a lack of this at times there was a slight lack of tension and suspense too, whereas if this had of been included these elements would have been heightened. Nonetheless he fulfills his role but there was room for improvement here.

Trash is pretty endearing as it is a classic underdog story, the three main characters make it so easy for you to back them as well as they are likeable from the word go. The film possibly has a few pacing issues but these are easy enough to overcome and if you stick with the movie you will be rewarded by its great ending. There are some brilliant moments of humour included too, probably the highlight being when the three boys try to obtain an object whilst avoiding the attention police, this was one of the best scenes in the film. However all the scenes in the movie are great and the film is one of the most watchable this year. The film is also visually appealing, with a setting such as Brazil this should be expected. However even the areas which might not be instantly appealing become so due to the excellent way that the film is shot. Who knew piles of trash could look so good!

Anyway Trash ends up being the complete opposite of what its title suggests. Likeable characters combined with a solid story meant that this was always going to be a fun time at the cinema. Throw in some well known faces and some humour for good measure and the film steadily increases in quality. Trash was impressive in many ways and is one of the years most enjoyable movies so far.

BIGGEST FLAW – Frederico needed to be more of a villain

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – The performances from the three leads

Rating – 8/10