The North in Get Carter

The North represented in Get Carter 

Get Carter is based in Newcastle which is stereotypically known for; the Geordie accent,  Newcastle football team and a drinking habit. However not all of these things are shown in the film. For example the scene when Carter is on the train travelling from the South up North, whilst South high key lighting is used and camera shots show outside of the train to show a natural green landscape for miles to see which creates a idyllic representation of the South, in contrast when the train arrives at Newcastle one of the first shots to establish he is there is a shot of a power plant releasing chemicals into the air, the plant looks dirty and smoggy due to the gas being released and the low key lighting emphasises the negativity of the Industrialised North. The Cabin in which Carter sits in is for the masses rather than the elite which Carter sees himself as.

Whilst on the train Carter sits in first class, he also eats and reads a book. Carter sits in first class because he is used to the finer life being from the South and he sees himself as too sophisticated to be in anything other than first class, which is a theme that is shown throughout the film. Carter sits in another cabin whilst eating, when he first sits down he begins to looks around, the camera shoots him at this point from a fair distance which gives the feel that he is being watched. Whilst this shot is happening Carter looks around at the other people in the Cabin, it is like he is looking down his nose at them because he feels of higher status than the others. Before he eats soup Carter rubs the spoon with a cloth, this is a sign of disrespect as Carter clearly isn't satisfied with the cleaning of the spoon and feels the need to clean it to his standards. Carter reads a book named 'Farewell my lovely', this could be a reference to the South which Carter sees as lovely and farewell could be a subtle hint that he isn't going to return to the South. In Carters Cabin one of the other passengers is reading but a tabloid newspaper instead of a book, in contrast a newspaper could be considered as taking less intelligence to read than a book which could again be Carters way of stating he is higher class than others by hinting he is more intelligent.

When Carter arrives at Newcastle he first visits a pub where he is supposed to be meeting Margaret, whilst he is walking into the pub he is shot from a distance and tracked as he walks into the pub this could possibly be a POV shot of someone watching him. When he enters the pub multiple CU's are used to show some of the Northerners faces as they are fixated on Carter watching him,  this gives a sinister feel that the people up North are Unfriendly and suspicious rather than friendly and welcoming like they are stereotyped to be like. Whilst in the Pub Carter is shown standing up whilst the locals are sitting down, this shows how he looks down on them and feels the need to be above them. Whilst ordering a drink Carter clicks his fingers and requests he has a tall class rather than the same as everyone else, the clicking of his fingers is very patronising but is the way Carter feels he should talk to the Northerners as he feels he is better than them, similar to the reason he asks for a tall glass as he doesn't want the same as the others as he is too sophisticated for that. None of the people in the Pub appear to have a Geordie accent which goes against a common stereotype.

Another scene that depicts the North similarly to this is the Marching Band scene. In this scene the background miss-en-scene depicts destroyed buildings which have been left untouched since World War Two and no attempt has been made to fix them. Which makes it a brash and hollow spectacle. Marching Bands are often associated with working culture and bringing communities together,  the director shows the opposite in this scene criticising the loss of community due to very little people turning up to watch the marching band.