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An Analysis of the Film

“Requiem for a Dream”

by Angela de Sousa

(06th May 2014_Film Theory)

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Angela de Sousa Film Theory/Analysis_Assignment - Requiem for a Dream 06 May 2014

Film Analysis of “Requiem for a Dream”

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Writer: Hubert Selby Jr (based on his book / Screenplay)

Darren Aronofsky (Screenplay)

Release Date: October 2000

Genre: Drama

Starring: Ellen Burnstyn.........................................................................Sara Goldfarb

Jared Leto..............................................................................Harry Goldfarb

Jennifer Connelly......................................................................Marion Silver

Marlon Wayans.....................................................................Tyrone C. Love

Christopher McDonald...........................................................Tappy Tibbons

Keith David........................................................................................Big Tim

Sean Gullette.....................................................................Arnold the Shrink

An ancient Chinese proverb states that “one picture is worth ten thousand words”

and in the film ‘Requiem for a Dream’ it is very true. The basic plot of the film is

about addiction and the harsh reality of outcomes that it has upon its victims. The

film focuses specifically on the lives of Sara and Harry Goldfarb (mother and son),

Marion Silver (Harry’s girlfriend) and Tyrone C. Love (Harry’s best friend). The film

takes place in Coney Island (Brooklyn, New York City, North America) and spans

over a few months, from summer to winter in their lives while they go through the

ordeals of exploring the alluring world of addiction and how their lives spiral out of

control and resulting in them being consumed by the effects of these addictions.

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The meaning behind the film in which Darren Aronofsky is portraying is that

addictions have a high cost (not necessarily in monetary terms but in what you might

lose of yourself and those around you in the process) and that it will lead to a

negative outcome. The film is a depiction of how people try run away from the harsh

realities of life by replacing it with something that subdues us or gives us that brief

moment of euphoria. This becomes an addiction because the more we want to

escape reality the more we need our chosen fix and that it will eventually consume

us. Just like the hole in Harry’s arm. What is also interesting, and what Darren

Aronofsky captures is the lengths people will go in order to obtain their addictions

even if it means creating new addictions and even setting aside all sense of morality

and relationships. The purpose of this film and the themes that it is addressing is to

show the dark side of what addiction has on its subjects physically, emotionally and

mentally, that there are consequences to our actions and that relationships can steer

us towards certain direction regarding our actions, if the relationships are broken

then we will undoubtedly follow a broken (self-destructive) path and that we should

be aware of the dangers.

Throughout the entire film we are subjected to the characters decisions in their

partaking of their addictions and we are following their lives along a subjective view

of all the situations they are faced with and the consequences of their actions. It is as

if we ourselves are either partaking along with them or it can also be seen from the

point the we are peeping into their personal lives, right down into the darkest hidden

corners, judging them as they make one mistake right after another without the

option of lending a helping hand, all we can do is watch their lives descend into

desolation.

The Encarta English Dictionary describes ‘Addiction’ as follows:

- Drug dependence - a state of physiological or psychological dependence on a

potentially harmful drug

- Devotion - a great interest in a particular thing to which a lot of time is devoted

- Need to do an activity – a strong need or wish to spend as much time as

possible doing a particular thing

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The word ‘drug’ in the above mentioned definition, I believe, is not only limited to

illegal narcotics but it included other substances that we tend to abuse on a daily

basis, examples of these are tobacco, caffeine, sweets and sugars etc.

The composition of the film used was captured well by cinematographer Matthew

Libatique. There are different perspectives being used throughout the film with the

use of the different camera techniques and they will be discussed below.

In the beginning of the film we are introduced to Sara Goldfarb and Harry Goldfarb

(mother and Son) as they bicker amongst each other from two separate rooms. She

has locked herself in the closet while Harry is on the other side (living room) and is

trying to take her television set that she had chained up in an attempt to keep him

from taking it, even if she confesses that she has done so to keep the robbers from

taking it. Possibly it can also be seen as her being chained to her addiction of

television. This scene is interesting as it is depicted by a split screen (Figure 1) - a

‘scene’ is made up of several shots that take place in the same location and time and

a ‘split screen’ is when two images are shown at the exact same time on the screen

but on opposite sides and in each side it is showing two different images that can

either be at the same location and time or they can be at different locations and at

different times. In this specific scene we get to see Sara in the closet while Harry is

in the living room, we get to see both of their reactions how both of them are trying to

make one another fee guilt, how she is afraid of him and it also represents that they

have a ‘split’ relationship. There is another use of a split screen when Harry and

Marion are having an intimate encounter but we see them separately on the screen

and how the way that they are touching each other is more of an un-intimate

encounter (Figure 2).

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There as a number of wide angled shots in the beginning of them film. A ‘wide

angle’ shot is used to depict the location of where the subject is and/or what is

happening around the subject. We see a few examples of this while Harry and

Tyrone are pushing the television set along the streets of Coney Island to pawn it off

to get money for their drugs (Figure 3). In this film the wide angle shot is not only just

to portrayed the location of where the film is

taking place or where the subjects are but it

was used in the sense that we are still not in

the thick of things just yet. There is a moment

when Harry and Tyrone pass the back of the

Coney Island Amusement Park and captures

in its view the roller coaster tracks above them; this is one of the many subtle hints

that are given throughout the film that the characters and we, as viewers, will be

taken along a roller coaster ride.

There is an irritatingly redundant amount of montages used. A ‘montage’ is a

subsequent amount of images and sounds that are shown right after one another,

usually in a rapid procession. The montages are used throughout the film whenever

a character is partaking their addictions, even during a split screen montage to

differentiate between the two characters partaking of their own separate addictions

during the same moment of time in the same place yet they are apart (this is seen

right before the shot of Harry and Marion on the bed slowly spinning – Figure 4).

These montages are a bunch of random images and sounds that give the viewer an

understanding of a quick fix, how simple the process appears and as to what it is that

they are taking. There is no use for dialogue in these scenes since the imaginary and

sound captures it clearly and each of these scenes where catered for each character

specifically as to what their addiction is. With Harry, Marion and Tyrone it was a lot of

illegal narcotic drugs, money and cigarettes

whereas with Sara, her montage scenes

where mainly her watching the television,

eating and excessively taking diet pills to

combat the binge eating and speed pills in

order to help her lose weight.

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The scene above mentioned of Harry and Marion on the bed that is slowly zooming

out and spiralling is another hint that their lives are spinning out of control. Their

dialogue is that of love for each other but they are staring straight up above and they

are hardly making any contact with one another so it’s another representation that

they are more ‘self’ loving and that their relationship is not whole like they want it to

be.

Some shots were done with a Snorricam (a small camera that is strapped onto the

subject so that when they move they are kept in centre while the background moves

so to give a more realistic sense of what the character is experiencing). This is used

when Tyrone is running away when the other drug dealers got gunned down and he

is covered in blood and scared out of him mind right up to where the cops capture

him. It is also used when Marion is doing the walk of shame when she leaves

Arnolds room after having to have coital encounter with him for money and she is

walking down the corridor to the elevator and up to where she is outside in the rain

and pukes. It is also used with Sara when she is

finally in the red dress but is extremely paranoid and

is hearing things in the apartment, like the loud dial

tone sound that the telephone is making since it is off

the hook. Figure 5 shows the Snorricam that was

attached to actress Jennifer Connelly.

The use of close-ups and extreme close-ups techniques became more aware as the

film progressed. ‘Close-ups’ focus closely in on the subject (Figure 6) whereas an

‘extreme close-up’ focuses intently onto a specific attribute of the subject (Figure 7).

You can see these during the montage scenes where there are brief moments of the

characters eyes dilating, pills falling onto the palm of Sara’s hands or even when

Harry is shooting up with heroine and we have an extreme look of how nasty his arm

is looking and we see the needle penetrate into it. Yuk!

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‘Point of view’ shots are pretty much explanatory, it is the view from the subject or

characters level of observation, but there are a number of high angle and low angle

shots being used. A ‘high angle’ is an examination taken from a high position

overlooking onto a subject whereas a ‘low angle’ is taken from below eye level and is

looking upwards at the subject. Some

examples of a high angle in the film are the

scene with Marion is in the elevator and later

with her again in the bathroom towards the end

of the film where she is getting ready to meet

Big Tim (Figure 8). These give the feeling of

belittlement that what she is doing is morally

wrong and that we as viewers are spectators

looking down on her. Examples of low angle

shots are where Harry and Tyrone are in the

car going to Florida, this renders a false hope

for us that things might be looking up for them (Figure 9).

A ramping technique (cameras frame rate is changed to give the films action a

slower paced speed) was used during the scene where Sara is running down the

street after her hallucinations got the better of her and the visual effect that this

technique gave is of her running down the street in a slowed down effect yet the

people around her are moving at an incredible speed that they are mere blurs

(Figure 10).

Fisheye camera lens is an extreme wide angled lens that distorts the image to

appear closer in the middle of the image and stretched out towards the sides.

Example of this techniques use in the film is seen in the instance with Sara in the

doctor’s room (Figure 11).

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Vibracam techniques, where the cameras movements are violently rapid and shaky,

were used with Sara when she is all paranoid and hallucinating from the effects of

the pills and is surrounded by the people from the television show.

There is also the use of a fast motion technique in the beginning of the film. This

technique is similar to the ramping technique; however, this is to speed up an image.

It was used with Harry, Marion and Tyler while they are high on drugs and their

movements are sped up to represent the brief effect of elation the drugs have on

your body or during the scenes of Sara cleaning up her apartment also under the

influence.

There is an instance where the axis line is broken or crossed over during the scene

where Harry goes to visit Sara in her apartment where we see Harry from the right

side but then little while later it is not the left side (Figure 12 and 13).

Even down to the effects used in the typography used in the beginning of the film for

the title and the names of the cast members were catered towards the films general

look. The words would appear and then disintegrate into nothing. Then the harsh cut

ins of the words Summer, Fall and Winter to inform us that not only are we following

them from Summer, Fall and Winter but I believe Aronofsky was using the seasons

to help with the connotation that things are going to a destructive end. Summer being

good, Fall (Autumn) a representation of the characters ‘fall’ into the dark side and

Winter, the bitter cold that destroys all that remains. There is no sight of Spring,

perhaps to inform us that these characters are left in an endless Winter.

The musical tone of the film is also suited for this film with its rapid nuances and

irritatingly scratchy pitches that are insanely depictive of the story and assists us as a

spectator to experience the uncomfortable and menacing experiences theses

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characters are going through. It is that itch you just cannot seem to scratch, it is

constantly taunting you and the more you think of it the itchier it becomes and drives

you insane.

Another thing to keep track of is the colour scheme throughout the film which is

always a gloomy pale greenish colour or at times has a yellow or blue tone, but as

the film escalated towards the end the colours becomes duller or darker. Even the

characters clothing, they are usually all wearing dull or darker colours. The scene in

the film, where, scene-after-scene from Harry and Marion on the bed spinning to

Sara in her apartment and to that of Tyrone in the jail cell they can all be seen

wearing black and dark greyish clothing, perhaps this was another subtle hint given

that past this point for all of them there is no turning back, they will now have to

endure the ride upon this sinking ship (Figure 14, 15 and16). Also note that in all of

these images that there is a blue (cold / depressing) tone.

The only moments in the film with bright colours are during the dream sequences of

Sara and Harry. For Sara her dreams are usually seeing herself in the red dress,

where she is on the ‘Month of Fury’ show and everyone is cheering her on and she is

happy. With Harry’s dream sequences he sees Marion on the pier overlooking the

ocean, she is also wearing red, he is happy and is running towards her, she turns

around to see him and she is happy but they are interrupted, she looks behind Harry

as if it was something from where he came from, but Harry is being awoken from his

dream state by Tyrone entering the room of their apartment. It is as if for that brief

moment in his dream state Harry was realising that the best thing for his life is

Marion and that he should leave all the addiction behind him and build their

relationship, however the downward spiral that he finds himself on and drags Marion

along severs the last remaining connection that the two have.

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In another dream sequence of Harry’s towards the ending he is running again

towards Marion but his appearance is that of urgency but she is not there and he

walks backwards and falls into an empty fit of darkness into a dirty ally way. Here it

describes that as Harry’s roller coaster journey has climaxed to its end, he finally

realises that has lost Marion and his life has fallen backwards into despair.

The way in which certain emotions where captured without dialogue were brilliantly

portrayed by the actors and gave us a more in-depth knowledge of the characters,

where Tyrone is on him bed alone looking at a photo of his mom and that it is raining

outside tells us more about how he longs for his mother. Marion at dinner with Arnold

is seem screaming inside her head lets us know that she is at war with herself about

deciding whether or not she should sleep with him for money and later on in the film

when she is in the bathtub after having been with Big Tim she appears all calm and

serene under the waters but she screams out.

In the films ending after the climax we can see all four characters in the foetal

position (Figure 17). This position is usually used when we are feeling lost, cold or

sad and we are in need of something comforting, warm and familiar. It is a fine

ending, well horrible for the characters but in the sense of composition it is good. The

ending brings these unfortunate souls to terms with the consequences of addiction

and not only can we abuse it but it abuses us too.

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The film ‘Requiem for a Dream’ is composed well and the use of camera techniques

is executed exceptionally. We follow the pace of the film (including music and the

length of the scenes) as they start to become shorter and more rapid so that

everything escalates during the films climax, where as Aronofsky states “all hell

breaks loose”. You cannot help but feel your body start to tense as the film

progresses and the moment the climax is over you can feel yourself breath again

and the muscles in your body slowly loosening. You feel emotionally exhausted from

all the intense visual techniques and moments, saddened and horrified by what you

have just witnessed, but rest assured you will reach catharsis too, as a viewer, once

the film ends and the credits role because you are happy to get back to your own

reality which, hopefully, is in no way close to what you have just witnessed.

In conclusion from the examples above about all the camera techniques we can see

that the cameras role in the film was that of a narrator as there were many instances

in which the images portrayed more information and realism than what any words

could bringing us back to the ancient Chinese proverb mentioned in the beginning of

this analysis...”One picture is worth ten thousand words”.

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