The Riot Club - film analyse

The Riot Club

Summary The Riot Club is a 2014 British thriller drama film directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Laura Wade, based on Wade's 2010 play Posh. The film stars Sam Claflin, alongside Max Irons and Douglas Booth. The Riot Club tells a story of two first year students at Oxford University, Miles and Alistar, who booth seek to join the infamous Riot Club where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening.

Disposition Following the summary, I will go on to talk about the setting followed by a characterization of both Miles and Alistar. I will then proceed to talk about the message as well as themes before relating it to The Pram which we read not that long ago.

Setting The Riot Club takes place at the prestigious Oxford University in England. The main characters / The Riot Club is all from the upper class They all arrive in fancy cars to The Bulls Head

Characters Miles Miles or 'Milo' as he is often called is also a first-year history student who joins the Riot Club. Miles is politically left and becomes disillusioned and frustrated with the actions of his club mates. He does not seem to share the posh values of the Riot Club members. His problem is that he does not realize that before much later. Miles is intellectually gifted and well mannered, but like everyone else, he is desperate to fit in.

Alistair Alistair is also a first-year history student whose brother, Sebastian, was considered a 'legendary' President of the Riot Club. Alistair attended Harrow School, unlike his brother, who attended Eton

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College. Throughout the film Alistair makes some statements which clearly shows that he is politically right orientated. This leads to intense conflicts with Miles in and out of school. Miles & Alistar both with aristocratic connections opposite to Lauren who comes from a lower- class family.

Clip (3:51 – 4:42) Alistairs father is very upset and demands the University to give Alistair what was his and Sebastians former room. While argueing Miles arrives and agrees to swap rooms given its sentimental value to Alistairs family.

Message The Riot Club holds many messages, some of which is the facts that money and power can get you far but never make you a better person. It also states that a decent upbrining from a middleclass family can turn out better than a money priveliged and spoiled kid, using Alistair and Laurens as an example. In the end, The Riot Club tells you to be happy with yourself and your place in life since money can not buy either.

Themes One of the major themes is social classes.

TRC members grew up with a rock-solid belief that money and political power always wins over laws and regulations. What the film shows is that young people are at the heart of a major social, cultural and political problem in Britain. It also shows a depiction of the upper class. These students come from and are destined to remain in the ruling class, and have the lack of understanding of those who are in the lower class of society.

Friends/girlfriend or status But later on, Miles finds himself battling his own morals during the club s annual dinner. He is‟ forced to choose between his girlfriend. Later on, the restaurant owner is beaten up by the Riot Club boys. Miles finds himself in a dilemma, when he needs to choose between the club and doing what is right. He is no longer able to battle his morals for the benefit of the group.

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