Analysis On Selected Film

            Requiem of a Dream is a film directed by Darren Aronofsky in year 2000. This film tells a story of four different individuals and their addiction to drugs which eventually leads them to their own downfall at the end.

Harry, Marion and Tyrone are best friends and they are heavily dependent on drugs and abuse it frequently. They began with taking drugs for pleasure and with certain turns of events they became drug dealers and from there they slowly succumbed deeper and deeper into the world of drugs. In the beginning, Harry and Tyrone starting taking drugs casually when they were hanging out and as a means to pass time. Slowly it came across their minds to become drug dealers and to make a business out of it so that they can earn more money to have a better life. In the end, Tyrone went to prison and Harry lost his arm due to infection from the drug needles. While Marion ended up prostituting herself to keep her supply of drugs.

Sara, who is Harry’s mother started out as a lovely but lonely middle-aged women. She was too hung on to her past and she misses her late husband Seymour and her son is rebellious. All this has led her to her obsession of the TV show “Juice”.  She wishes to be on the show just so that she can share about her husband and son. Her dreams came true when she received a phone call for the TV station that she will be on “Juice”. She wanted to look perfect and fit in to the red dress hence she decided to lose some weight by using drugs. At an earlier stage she realized that the drugs were harmful, but when she consulted the doctor he ignored her. Yet, Sara continued with the drugs because she was already too deep in.

At the end of the film, all four main characters suffered the devastating consequences of drugs abused leaving the audience to ponder about the usage and effects of drugs on society.

 Soviet montage emphasized on a series of random shots put together to bring a certain meaning to a specific situation. For example, in the opening sequence there were montages of the television show ‘Juice’  hosted by Tappy who seems to be a very influential person and a great motivator. He was seen hosting the show, garnering the crowd to cheer for him and he was out on the streets talking to people trying to convince them to go on a certain diet plan. All these were done back and forth to create a sort of hypnotizing and fearful effect. The constant sing alongs and loud cheering from the crowds indicates that they worship Tappy and his talks.The director may chose to edit it in this particular style as a way to convey to the audience that people can be easily absorbed into the world of television to escape the harsh realities of life. This is because television has the ability to draw people deeply into it and to forget the real world that is around them. It could be said that television is a silent emotional drug.This is one of the reasons why Sara is so hooked on to the show. She uses it as means to escape from the fact that she is lonely and she has nothing much to live for in her life as her husband has passed away and her son is hardly home to accompany her hence making her feel more alone.

The next montage which is seen is the one during the drug taking process. These montages were shown were frequently throughout the whole film every single time the characters took the drugs. It has images of the drug preparation and the drugs entering the bodies via the veins. It also showed the effects of taking drugs when the pupils dilated and the following scenes either show the actors in a blissful mood or super charged up paced. This may be done to show the audience what really happens when one puts drugs in their bodies. They may not know what happens as the audiences may not be drug users. Moreover, it may have an underlying meaning such as the use of drugs can lead to a bad end. The consumption of drugs were at first seen to have harmless effects. For example, in the beginning when we first see Harry and Tyrone shooting up, they ended up spinning records, laughing and having fun. After the montage of Sara taking her diet pills for the first time, she was seen happily eating and dancing. But as the film progresses, we can see that the characters are slowly dwindling to their ends after each time they take the drugs. They were having hallucinations and they became more and more addicted to it.

There were also montages of Harry and Tyrone selling the drugs in the street. The shots varied from cash exchanging hands and the passing of the drugs. These were accompanied by a simple "Ka-Ching" sound to represent that drugs can make money and that a lot of people are using it. Following the success of Harry and Tyrone from selling drugs there were montages of their lives getting better. They were pictorial shots of Harry and Marion looking for a shop lot, renovating it and purchasing it. In this part of the film, it tells a story to the audience that the characters are finally having their dreams come true yet they will still suffer a bad ending.

Besides compiling different footages to make a meaning out of it; one of soviet montage aim is to allow the audience to experience what the characters in the movie are experiencing. For example, when Tyrone met up with the other drug dealers and he was about to get a promotion. As it turns out, they were ambushed and he ran out from the car with blood all around him. The montage was shaky to bring the audience to Tyrone’s state of emotion where he was shocked and panicking at while trying to escape for his life at the same time. He had just witnessed someone being shot from a close range and their blood was all over his face. He didn't expect for such a thing to happen and with the way the shots were composed and shot, it really made the audience believe his fear. The other example for this is when after Marion prostituted herself for the first time to Arnold. Her face was pale and she looked sick and was also breaking out in a cold sweat. Her surroundings seem to be a blur and it is to probably indicate the disgust she feels with herself. All this is further emphasized when she was seen throwing up towards the end of the shot.

Reference:

Woody Lindsey. Retrieved on March 8, 2012, from http://filmdirectors.co/soviet-montage-film-techniques.