Requiem for A Dream

A Darren Aronofsky's film, Requiem for A Dream.

It's based on the same book name by Hebert Selby Jr. After watching it for the first time in class, I would say it's a film that you won't feel comfortable watching it, due to how the content is presented, yet the message behind is powerful.

The main things you should be aware of from this film:

DRUG. MONEY. SEX. SUCCESS. 

The 4 main characters - Sara, Harry, Marion and Tyrone, each of them are obsessed with drugs in different ways. They are willing to pay money to get their drugs fix. For sex, especially Marion, she sacrifices her body for purpose. All of them tried to achieve what they want in an extreme way. 

I love how the film shows us people will go all the way just to achieve their goals, although their goals might not perceived good generally. Thanks to the director's style, the mental and psychological state of each character is well presented. 

There are many split screens in the film. Sara (mum) vs Harry (son). Harry (boyfriend) vs Marion (girlfriend). Sara vs refrigerator. Drug consumption process of Tyrone vs Harry. Although they are in the same place, but the execution of split screen highlights the difference in each character.

I love the split screen especially for Sara vs refrigerator. Sara has the urge to eat something else during her diet so she keeps looking at the refrigerator but has to resist. The medium close-up shot of Sara sitting on the chair keep zooming into the extreme close up of Sara's eye, the overall process is fantastic! Other than that, many close up and extreme close up are performed to show the intensity and focus of the scene. Most of the time the shot is taken with a stationery camera. That means characters are constantly giving meaning to their motions while camera is capturing them without changing the camera position.

Parallel editing that shows two events happen in the same time can enhance the storytelling. For example, Sara going to Madison Avenue, Harry and Tyrone going to Florida. This helps to establish the plot yet audiences still can get a picture of what's going on for both sides without delaying the story.

The fast cut montage showing the drug consumption process is worth a watch too! The perfect combo consists of powder, fire, boiling water, rolling money, widening pupil. The matter of arranging the shots is important as it shows act of drugs consumption. The arrangement is interesting, accompanied by dramatic sound effect! 

After they consume the drug, the scene fades to white screen slowly. It indicates that they feel energised. They feel like they're in the "whole new world". 

Watch here to understand more:

But I don't like how hip hop music is always associated with drug. In this film, the young drug addicts dance along with the hip hop music to show their excitement after consuming the drugs. This is really labelling hip hop music = drugs. NO, please. 

The TV show that drives Sara to go on diet insanely. I sympathise with her a lot. This old lady got a call from the show to be a contestant. She is so excited to be on television, to tell people about how much she loves her deceased husband and successful son. With a dream to go on television by wearing her lovely red dress, she had a crazy diet. But her inner feeling - she is old, she is alone, she is lonely, she has no one to care for. This chance is sort of giving a meaning to her life. In the end, she destroyed herself. I feel bad for her. 

Requiem for A Dream, a brilliant film! 

And please don't get yourself into drug. YOU WILL SUFFER.