Movies that can reach an audience through multiple aspects of the film and not just through the storytelling are hard to find. Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000) is a psychological thriller/drama centered around the lives of four different characters and the addiction that rapidly consumes their lives spanning the course of a year in Brooklyn, New York. This film truly captures the desperation and the spiraling people often face all in the name of drug addiction. The film was executed successfully with the help of phenomenal acting, Clint Mansell’s brilliant soundtrack, and the overall themes throughout the film. What really brought this film to life, though, was the brilliant cinematography and editing techniques that were used. Both helped the character’s emotions and the tone reach through the screen and into the hearts of the audience.
The cinematography in Requiem for a Dream helps capture and convey the dark tones shown throughout. In particular, the use of split screen close-up shots help show the audience the focus and certain meanings in scenes. There is one scene in particular that executes this very well. The scene takes place earlier on in the film with Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto) and Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly) laying together in bed after getting high. Marion is telling Harry how the love she receives from other people is meaningless, but his love for her means more. As the two of them are talking, the split screen changes, switching to different close-up shots and replacing the other person as one of them talks. To elaborate on this, while Marion talks, instead of seeing a close-up of Harry on the left side of the screen, the audience instead sees Marion’s fingers touching his lips or caressing him. When Harry talks, the audience sees a close-up of him caressing her thigh and other intimate touches on the right side of the screen. The execution of the split screen close-ups allows the audience to see that even though the couple is being raw and vulnerable with each other, there is clearly a barrier between the two of them that holds them back from having a truly healthy relationship. That barrier is drugs. Their addictions to drugs keep them divided and will eventually drive them apart even though they claim to have a wholeness and a closeness with each other.
Another cinematography technique that helped elevate this film is the use of close-up shots that are shot by someone holding the camera by hand. One scene in particular, with Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) shows her descending further into her drug use and grandiose delusions that one day she’ll be on T.V. by taking more pills than what was recommended by her dietician. The scene opens up with her taking three of the four different types of pills at once and is walking around her house while the lights flicker ominously. The shaky camera work and close-up shot of her face adds a layer of disorientation, uncertainty, and distress to the scene as she wanders throughout her apartment in a daze as if this home isn’t even hers.
This technique can also be seen when Marion Silver is leaving her doctor’s apartment with the drug money she got by sleeping with him. As she’s leaving the building, the camera shakes slightly, staying close to her face and showing the state of distress she’s in. The lights even flicker as the camera shakes while she is in the elevator. As soon as she gets outside, she begins to upchuck onto the sidewalk while the rain pours on her. This causes the camera to take a low angle. Like with the previous scene, the camera work adds a layer of distress and shows how emotionally volatile Marion is. She’s disgusted with herself but slept with her doctor so Harry could get more drugs with the money.
The editing in this film is truly the icing on the cake; it emphasizes what the audience is supposed to see and know about these characters. For instance, the use of title cards that names the seasons is a very simple, yet important touch. The film starts in summer and makes its way to fall, then winter. It helps the audience see how rapidly and deeply these characters are spiraling into their addictions and it helps explain how time is passing. The use of similar transition shots at the end of the film where all of the characters are laying in beds gives a strong tug at the hearts of the audience. The characters are all in different places, dealing with different consequences but all of these consequences are a result of the same thing: their involvement with drugs.
Using Visual effects in the film really helped emphasize Sara’s downward spiral. Specifically, when she was hallucinating her ideal T.V. version of herself in her living room along with her favorite talk show host. Visual effects helped make these hallucinations look pixelated, like they just came out of her T.V. screen. It helped show how truly disconnected Sara is from reality and the fact that even her own delusions saw her as not important, not just the people in her life. Toward the end of the film, a green screen effect that helped bring a scene to a thought provoking level. This is when Harry dreams of himself on a pier and sees Marion at the end of it, staring at the ocean. He rushes to her and when he reaches her, she disappears. He takes a couple steps back and finds himself falling into nothingness. It gives a feeling of hopelessness to the audience and shows Harry realizing that he is so deep in his addiction that now he’s finally facing the consequences for it. One of these consequences is that he feels like he ruined his relationship with Marion and won't be able to live the life he wants with her.
To conclude, Requiem for a Dream emulates the horrors and downward spirals that come with drug addiction through characters that appear real because they have real life desires, problems, and even fears. The audience gets to feel the pain and see the desperation as these characters ultimately don't have happy endings. The use of great editing techniques and cinematography help convey this message and the deeper meanings within the movie. It allows the audience to gain a deeper understanding of these characters and the seriousness of their addictions.
Works Cited
Requiem for a Dream. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Performances by Jared Leto, Jennifer
Connelly, Marlon Wayans, and Ellen Burstyn, Artisan Entertainment, 2000.