Film Analysis (Added)

Figure 1

Requiem of a Dream is a film directed by Darren Aronofsky in year 2000. This film tells of story of four different individuals and their addiction to drugs. Harry, Marion and Tyrone are best friends and they are heavily dependent on drugs and abuse it frequently. Sara, who is Harry’s mother is a lovely but lonely middle-aged women. She was too hung on to her past and she wanted to achieve a sense of accomplishment in her life . At the end of the film, all four main characters suffered the devastating consequences of drugs abuse. 

Figure 2

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 addicted 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. Her husband has passed away and her son is hardly home to accompany her hence making her feel more alone.

Figure 3

The next montage which is seen is the one during the drug taking process. These montages were shown 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. 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.

Figure 4

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 their dreams are finally coming true.

Figure 5

When it is nearing the end of the film, there is a series of montages between Harry, Tyrone, Sara and Marion. The montages were long and shown almost all together at once. In these montages it was showing the most climatic downfall of the four characters. Harry was being prepped for surgery to remove his infected arm. Tyrone was going about his jail duties, Sara was being treated with electro shock therapy and Marian was engaging in a sex orgy. There were multiple cuts to each scene and the momentum for each scenario was building up similarly. This means that each character was experiencing their greatest downfall together at the same time.

Figure 6

At the end of the montages the characters did not meet hence it does not qualify as parallel editing. Harry was left alone in his hospital room while Tyrone was in his bed at his jail cell. Sara was in her bed at the institution and Sara was at home in her couch. The only common thing that this four characters had was that they were sleeping in a fetal position. The characters were curled up in that specific position to show that they are insecure and want to at least hold on to something that would make them feel more safe. For example, Marion was clutching the drugs which she obtained after participating in the sex orgy and she curled up in to a fetal position.

Reference:

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