Requiem for a Dream Analysis

Darren Aronofsky, the director of "Requiem for a Dream" does several things to create a spellbinding piece of art. This movie focuses on the lives of four people whose lives turn to hell after delving into the world of drugs. Aronofsky utilizes several things to create a feeling of "trippiness" in the viewer while they watch the film. The director plays with camera angles, special effects, and picture quality to simulate the feelings of a drug usage.

Many times, the camera angle is canted or rotated in illogical ways to simulate confusion. This method is especially applied during scenes of intense drug usage where the character on screen is experiencing a high. Many times, during intoxication, the drug user may feel disoriented or confused, this is recreated by the filming of the movie. The viewer is looking through the eyes of a drug user when the camerawork displays scenes in confusing camera angles.

The mother in the film, sees things while high. Many special effects are used to simulate these visions. These hallucinations include, a refrigerator that tries to bite her, television characters jumping out of the screen, and food shooting past her. All of these effects create a surreal feeling during the "high" times of the mom. This feeling is felt by some people who experiment with drugs, and the feeling is also felt by the viewer of the film during these trippy scenes.

When I first started to watch this film, I thought it was made in the seventies. I found out later that it was made in the year 2000. The film is very grainy and slightly blurry. This creates a slight "high" effect. Some people who have a buzz see the world as more blurry. By making the film slightly blurry throughout the movie, the director has caused the viewer to feel like they are looking through the eyes of someone who is buzzed because of the graininess and the blur.

Many effects go hand in hand to create drug intoxicating feelings within the viewer. Bizarre camera angles, strange special effects, and picture quality all work together to create the effects intended by director Darren Aronofsky.