textual analysis: Requiem for a dream
‘Requiem for a Dream’
‘Requiem for a dream’ was originally a novel written by Hubert Selby Jr., and then later turned into film by Darren Aronofsky, an auteur director who has an ever-present sense of hyper-reality in his films. The film partially follows Todorovs’ theory for the classic narrative structure due to its linear and chronological plot diegesis. Requiem for a dream challenges this theory also, due to it containing numerous narrative devices such as parallel/accelerated montages, hallucinations, day dreams, flashbacks and mainly because of the unconventional and distasteful ending where a different equilibrium is reached yet this disappoints the viewers’ expectation of a positive resolution.
‘Requiem for a dream’ is set in what seems to be a ghost town with an unused fun fair incorporated as the centre piece next to the beach. The setting is used as a metaphor for the use of drugs within the film and is a main theme throughout; my chosen sequence takes place 55 minutes into the film, as the disruption of the equilibrium is already underway. The scene opens with a long wide angle shot of the two main protagonists sitting under the pier in a private conversation. Most of the frame is in shadow using closed lighting which contrasts with a piercing amber light in the distance, the binary opposition of bright light and shadow connotes the characters emotions by feeling trapped in their money/drug dilemma and the distant light conveys the distant hope and warmth of the sunlight that was reminiscent in the beginning sequences set in summer. The protagonists are positioned under a beam of light that casts bar-like rays of light on the ground, the semiotics of this suggest that they are trapped behind bars mentally and how they are cut away from society by being situated underground thus this acts as a cultural code of teenagers and drugs. One of the beams of the pier is positioned in the right hand side of the frame which gives spectators the feeling that they are almost there hiding out with them suggesting that it is a privileged sh`ot. The sparse, repetitive surroundings connotes that they are trapped by their addictions in a repetitive lifestyle. The following shot is a medium low angle shot looking up at Tyrone where his hand (holding a joint) is in focus and positioned in front of the camera, this is done to emphasize the fact that they are smoking drugs together in a desolate atmosphere, Also to help evoke empathy with the characters. From this scene the audiences have to work out where the characters are, however this is identified with the distant sounds of waves and the only logical explanation for the lighting is that the sun is setting which also has a connotive reading of change, from dark to light which links to Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory and in that sense the readers are manipulated into a sense of foreboding and the ominous yet innocent nature of the scene. The following shot shows Harry with his face cast mainly in shadow which is an element of film noir indicating a transition period of things becoming darker, symbolically and literally as they realize that their dreams are becoming more distant. The shadow also could connote a dark side of Harry’s character. The camera shots hone in closer to the characters until there is a close up shot of them talking; this not only draws in emotion and empathy but creates an enigma code for when they hear a running child’s footsteps. The background music breaks as the sound of running footsteps interrupts the characters conversation, the footsteps get louder as if they are approaching, and the sound actuality creates suspense and an enigma. As the footsteps pass over them flickering shadows are cast over Tyrone’s face, this is to signify his emotion and links to his flashback of a child running to hug his mother, a theme of his personal under-achieving of ‘making it’ is brought to the viewers attention and conveys that he is still struggling to succeed, it also connotes that they are hiding out from society and are startled by a child running carelessly, it is also to represent a forgotten childhood and how they have lost their innocence by becoming addicted to heroin. It also relates to Harry’s day dreams that take place on the pier where he sees his girlfriend looking out into the sea wearing a red dress which is a metaphorical code of their addictions conquering their dreams, Harry’s flashback also acts as an enigma code because its meaning its not identified until the last remaining scenes where he runs to talk to her yet he falls. A metaphorical code showing his fall that was caused by his addictions as a tragic hero. Yet the pier represents beauty amongst their ugly world and how it reaches out to the sea, it conveys the characters reach for their dreams.
There are many frequent collision montages running throughout the plot to convey how all the characters slowly become slaves to their dreams and addictions. The final montage is the most reminiscent due to the characters all having something in their mouth: the mother has a gum shield while receiving ECT therapy, Marion has a dollar bill pushed into her mouth, Harry has an oxygen mask over his mouth and Tyrone vomits. This is symbolic of their inner emotions, how they feel isolated yet there’s no one they can talk to or turn to help. The Accelerative/parallel montage is effective as it represents the story’s climax of disruption as the tempo quickens, where all the characters suffering collides as they are all going through different traumatic events. The reason the sequence was probably made into a montage was probably due to each shot in the sequence being equally disturbing and to convey the cause and effects of their actions. The myths behind this sequence is all about the affects of drugs and emphasizes that all addictions are bad whether its drug related, Darren Aronofsky states the main message behind the plot was not to put too much emphasis on the drug itself but the addiction that surrounded it and states that (1) ‘Selby’s message is the length people go to escape reality. And when we do that we create a hole in our present.’
The second section I have chosen to discuss is Tyrone’s flashback of a child which conveys the characters loss of hope and innocence, the scene fades in with a hand held camera running behind Tyrone, the camera movement allows the viewers to feel as if they are running with him, this overall creates and enigma code due to the sense of urgency which is stressed more here than if it were a point of view shot. As the camera follows the child into the room to sit on the mothers’ lap a window is positioned in the left of the frame, the mise en scene shows sunlight and leaves outside the window, which connotes a nurturing childhood full of life; this is ironic because it’s the only time a plant is seen throughout this film. The picture quality of this scene seems poor and fuzzy. This is to make it look as though it was filmed in the 60’s to create more realism and a sense of authenticity to his memories.
The use of lighting within this film is highly significant as it reflects the characters emotions, at the beginning of the film the lighting manipulates a warm sunlight until the equilibrium is disrupted, then pathetic fallacy takes place as each of the characters become overwhelmed by their addictions, for example there is a mid shot of Tyrone sitting on his bed, naked and crying over his mothers picture with a storm taking place outside that conveys how Tyrone is thinking how he was yearning for his mothers approval but sought it in drugs instead. A storm is also present when Marions’ character is suffering emotionally when she prostitutes herself in order to cure her addiction, the lighting at the end of the film is all artificial fluorescent lights which flicker so show the characters discomfort and how much they’ve changed, it also makes the scenes appear stark and cold.
The diegesis is represented in a very gritty tragic way that is unconventional for most Hollywood narratives and it is probably more believable to the viewer due to their being a negative equilibrium reached at the end. The film overall creates a good projection of verisimilitude as the characters are all equally balanced, none particularly stand out as stereotypes and are all portrayed as victims by the end of the film. All of the main protagonists take drugs, the friends take various drugs for recreational use, the girlfriend does it for inspiration for her fashion business and the mother takes prescription drugs for her weight loss, the ideologies behind this comments on the mislead youth subcultures that are often portrayed as criminal, mentally unbalanced ‘yob’s’ and the fact that they’ve been demonized makes society not question the reasons behind their addiction. It also comments on society’s need for women to be thin and how it has become an obsession.
The reason behind the chronological trajectory for each individual character was to convey their development in partaking in their downward spiral, there was a mainly a natural coherence in time and space, the entire film was foreshortened to a space of a year and divided into the four seasons separated using black and white title cards with a synchronous sound of jail doors slamming to heighten the expectations of the viewers. However, in the drug scenes time was frequently elongated and foreshortened that begs the cliché how ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and how time was elongated when each of the characters were in a state of personal torment. Causality was also believable within the film because they are familiar stories that have often been represented, such as young woman prostituting their bodies to pay for drugs and how people will risk breaking the law to take or sell drugs.
Darren Aronofsky auteur style can be seen throughout this film, he is well known for his sense of hyper-realism imposed by the use of editing and lighting. ‘Requiem for a dream’ had approximately 2,000 cuts while the average movie has around 650 cuts; this was done to emphasize the theme and characters lifestyles often using the same imagery throughout the montages. The director also chose not to mention heroin throughout the film to highlight the addiction itself without conjuring the stigma that comes with it.
The constant theme of addiction and the need for escapism comments on society on more than one level, it indicates and backs up the Marxism theory that we have separated ourselves from each other and therefore severed our ties of communication, it also parodies the American dream ideology of the happy hardworking family, where we are encouraged to strive for our personal goals and in some shape or form it identifies that each one of us has an addiction of some form and if we dwell into it, it can destroy our lives.
Bibliography:
Quote by Darren Aronofsky
http://www.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=4613
Date visited 26th October 2005
‘Requiem for a dream’ was originally a novel written by Hubert Selby Jr., and then later turned into film by Darren Aronofsky, an auteur director who has an ever-present sense of hyper-reality in his films. The film partially follows Todorovs’ theory for the classic narrative structure due to its linear and chronological plot diegesis. Requiem for a dream challenges this theory also, due to it containing numerous narrative devices such as parallel/accelerated montages, hallucinations, day dreams, flashbacks and mainly because of the unconventional and distasteful ending where a different equilibrium is reached yet this disappoints the viewers’ expectation of a positive resolution.
‘Requiem for a dream’ is set in what seems to be a ghost town with an unused fun fair incorporated as the centre piece next to the beach. The setting is used as a metaphor for the use of drugs within the film and is a main theme throughout; my chosen sequence takes place 55 minutes into the film, as the disruption of the equilibrium is already underway. The scene opens with a long wide angle shot of the two main protagonists sitting under the pier in a private conversation. Most of the frame is in shadow using closed lighting which contrasts with a piercing amber light in the distance, the binary opposition of bright light and shadow connotes the characters emotions by feeling trapped in their money/drug dilemma and the distant light conveys the distant hope and warmth of the sunlight that was reminiscent in the beginning sequences set in summer. The protagonists are positioned under a beam of light that casts bar-like rays of light on the ground, the semiotics of this suggest that they are trapped behind bars mentally and how they are cut away from society by being situated underground thus this acts as a cultural code of teenagers and drugs. One of the beams of the pier is positioned in the right hand side of the frame which gives spectators the feeling that they are almost there hiding out with them suggesting that it is a privileged sh`ot. The sparse, repetitive surroundings connotes that they are trapped by their addictions in a repetitive lifestyle. The following shot is a medium low angle shot looking up at Tyrone where his hand (holding a joint) is in focus and positioned in front of the camera, this is done to emphasize the fact that they are smoking drugs together in a desolate atmosphere, Also to help evoke empathy with the characters. From this scene the audiences have to work out where the characters are, however this is identified with the distant sounds of waves and the only logical explanation for the lighting is that the sun is setting which also has a connotive reading of change, from dark to light which links to Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory and in that sense the readers are manipulated into a sense of foreboding and the ominous yet innocent nature of the scene. The following shot shows Harry with his face cast mainly in shadow which is an element of film noir indicating a transition period of things becoming darker, symbolically and literally as they realize that their dreams are becoming more distant. The shadow also could connote a dark side of Harry’s character. The camera shots hone in closer to the characters until there is a close up shot of them talking; this not only draws in emotion and empathy but creates an enigma code for when they hear a running child’s footsteps. The background music breaks as the sound of running footsteps interrupts the characters conversation, the footsteps get louder as if they are approaching, and the sound actuality creates suspense and an enigma. As the footsteps pass over them flickering shadows are cast over Tyrone’s face, this is to signify his emotion and links to his flashback of a child running to hug his mother, a theme of his personal under-achieving of ‘making it’ is brought to the viewers attention and conveys that he is still struggling to succeed, it also connotes that they are hiding out from society and are startled by a child running carelessly, it is also to represent a forgotten childhood and how they have lost their innocence by becoming addicted to heroin. It also relates to Harry’s day dreams that take place on the pier where he sees his girlfriend looking out into the sea wearing a red dress which is a metaphorical code of their addictions conquering their dreams, Harry’s flashback also acts as an enigma code because its meaning its not identified until the last remaining scenes where he runs to talk to her yet he falls. A metaphorical code showing his fall that was caused by his addictions as a tragic hero. Yet the pier represents beauty amongst their ugly world and how it reaches out to the sea, it conveys the characters reach for their dreams.
There are many frequent collision montages running throughout the plot to convey how all the characters slowly become slaves to their dreams and addictions. The final montage is the most reminiscent due to the characters all having something in their mouth: the mother has a gum shield while receiving ECT therapy, Marion has a dollar bill pushed into her mouth, Harry has an oxygen mask over his mouth and Tyrone vomits. This is symbolic of their inner emotions, how they feel isolated yet there’s no one they can talk to or turn to help. The Accelerative/parallel montage is effective as it represents the story’s climax of disruption as the tempo quickens, where all the characters suffering collides as they are all going through different traumatic events. The reason the sequence was probably made into a montage was probably due to each shot in the sequence being equally disturbing and to convey the cause and effects of their actions. The myths behind this sequence is all about the affects of drugs and emphasizes that all addictions are bad whether its drug related, Darren Aronofsky states the main message behind the plot was not to put too much emphasis on the drug itself but the addiction that surrounded it and states that (1) ‘Selby’s message is the length people go to escape reality. And when we do that we create a hole in our present.’
The second section I have chosen to discuss is Tyrone’s flashback of a child which conveys the characters loss of hope and innocence, the scene fades in with a hand held camera running behind Tyrone, the camera movement allows the viewers to feel as if they are running with him, this overall creates and enigma code due to the sense of urgency which is stressed more here than if it were a point of view shot. As the camera follows the child into the room to sit on the mothers’ lap a window is positioned in the left of the frame, the mise en scene shows sunlight and leaves outside the window, which connotes a nurturing childhood full of life; this is ironic because it’s the only time a plant is seen throughout this film. The picture quality of this scene seems poor and fuzzy. This is to make it look as though it was filmed in the 60’s to create more realism and a sense of authenticity to his memories.
The use of lighting within this film is highly significant as it reflects the characters emotions, at the beginning of the film the lighting manipulates a warm sunlight until the equilibrium is disrupted, then pathetic fallacy takes place as each of the characters become overwhelmed by their addictions, for example there is a mid shot of Tyrone sitting on his bed, naked and crying over his mothers picture with a storm taking place outside that conveys how Tyrone is thinking how he was yearning for his mothers approval but sought it in drugs instead. A storm is also present when Marions’ character is suffering emotionally when she prostitutes herself in order to cure her addiction, the lighting at the end of the film is all artificial fluorescent lights which flicker so show the characters discomfort and how much they’ve changed, it also makes the scenes appear stark and cold.
The diegesis is represented in a very gritty tragic way that is unconventional for most Hollywood narratives and it is probably more believable to the viewer due to their being a negative equilibrium reached at the end. The film overall creates a good projection of verisimilitude as the characters are all equally balanced, none particularly stand out as stereotypes and are all portrayed as victims by the end of the film. All of the main protagonists take drugs, the friends take various drugs for recreational use, the girlfriend does it for inspiration for her fashion business and the mother takes prescription drugs for her weight loss, the ideologies behind this comments on the mislead youth subcultures that are often portrayed as criminal, mentally unbalanced ‘yob’s’ and the fact that they’ve been demonized makes society not question the reasons behind their addiction. It also comments on society’s need for women to be thin and how it has become an obsession.
The reason behind the chronological trajectory for each individual character was to convey their development in partaking in their downward spiral, there was a mainly a natural coherence in time and space, the entire film was foreshortened to a space of a year and divided into the four seasons separated using black and white title cards with a synchronous sound of jail doors slamming to heighten the expectations of the viewers. However, in the drug scenes time was frequently elongated and foreshortened that begs the cliché how ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and how time was elongated when each of the characters were in a state of personal torment. Causality was also believable within the film because they are familiar stories that have often been represented, such as young woman prostituting their bodies to pay for drugs and how people will risk breaking the law to take or sell drugs.
Darren Aronofsky auteur style can be seen throughout this film, he is well known for his sense of hyper-realism imposed by the use of editing and lighting. ‘Requiem for a dream’ had approximately 2,000 cuts while the average movie has around 650 cuts; this was done to emphasize the theme and characters lifestyles often using the same imagery throughout the montages. The director also chose not to mention heroin throughout the film to highlight the addiction itself without conjuring the stigma that comes with it.
The constant theme of addiction and the need for escapism comments on society on more than one level, it indicates and backs up the Marxism theory that we have separated ourselves from each other and therefore severed our ties of communication, it also parodies the American dream ideology of the happy hardworking family, where we are encouraged to strive for our personal goals and in some shape or form it identifies that each one of us has an addiction of some form and if we dwell into it, it can destroy our lives.
Bibliography:
Quote by Darren Aronofsky
http://www.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=4613
Date visited 26th October 2005
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