MYST Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream has been a familiar name to me but i never got to chance to see the film until last week. When i found it on Netflix, I had no idea what to expect from it and how dark the story would go. I can not process an exact summary so I have selected one from IMDb.

A film paralleling the lives of Sara Goldfarb, a lonely, TV obsessed widow, and her son Harry, his girlfriend Marion, and his drug dealer friend Tyrone. After learning that she will make an appearance on a TV game show, Sara tries to lose weight so that she can fit into her prized red dress, and becomes hooked on diet pills. Meanwhile, Harry and his friends are taking heroin and cocaine. We then witness the disasterous consequences and the downward spiral their lives take as a result of their addictions.



The character progression and set design really helped set a perfect tone for the movie. When our four main characters are closer to their dreams, you get a sense of pride in these characters that wouldn't usually cheer for in real life.The movie helps audiences feel for these characters and even takes advantage of that when things brutally go down hill. The settings play a big role in setting the tone by showing danger, isolation, confusion, and dysfunction.

Its hard to pick out exactly a favorite scene in the movie. Alot of them are memorable but not in the way where the audience is supposed to like whats going on. If i were to pick a favorite scene, it would have to be at the point where everyone had things going for them. In previous scenes you would see them struggle to survive and you can really connect with them. There's a sense of pride you are supposed to have for the characters once they get out of the bad. Unfortunately they don't stay like that for long.

The movie is not rated and some scenes are hard to watch. If you liked the movie Trainspotting then you are sure to like this one. If you are not to big on a movie where it portrays realistic addictions and struggles addicts have then its not the movie for you. This is definitively a hard movie to watch. If you do not enjoy the first half hour then you will not enjoy the end.

Formal Film Studies- Tarintino Films

Six criminals, who are strangers to each other, are hired by a crime boss, Joe Cabot, to carry out a diamond robbery. Right at the outset, they are given false names with the intention that they won't get too close and will concentrate on the job instead. They are completely sure that the robbery is going to be a success. But, when the police show up right at the time and the site of the robbery, panic spreads amongst the group members, and one of them is killed in the subsequent shootout, along with a few policemen and civilians. When the remaining people assemble at the premeditated rendezvous point (a warehouse), they begin to suspect that one of them is an undercover cop.

Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are two hitmen who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace. Wallace has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia out a few days later when Wallace himself will be out of town. Butch Coolidge is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight. The lives of these seemingly unrelated people are woven together comprising of a series of funny, bizarre and uncalled-for incidents.

In 1858, a bounty hunter named Schultz seeks out a slave named Django and buys him because he needs him to find some men he is looking for. After finding them, Django wants to find his wife, Broomhilda who along with him were sold separately by his former owner for trying to escape. Schultz offers to help him if he chooses to stay with him and be his partner. Eventually they learn that she was sold to a plantation in Mississipi. Knowing they can't just go in and say they want her, they come up with a plan so that the owner will welcome them into his home and they can find a way.

Style

Tarintino is most well known for his film Pulp Fiction, in which multiple stories are told out of order and blended into one film. This was not the first movie of his to be done in that sort of style. His first movie, Reservoir Dogs, was the first to introduce this new style however, other elements are added to make his movies stand out more among the rest. Most of his movies contain drugs, violence, torchure, and a conversation heavy focus between characters. His movies also try to have characters present themself in a cool manner such as what they wear and how they act. The unnconventional style of story telling Tarintino uses is from French New Wave. Tarintino makes direct references towards French New Wave in the film Pulp Fiction. In the movie, two characters dance in a 1950's themed cafe, while in a french film, Bande à part, the characters do the same. Tarintino's production company, a Band Apart, is named directly from the the french film. 

The use of music in his films also plays a major part within his movies. From a slow mellow rap while riding on horse back to Stuck in the Middle with You as background for a torchure scene. The music plays an role within each movie setting a tone and often having a type of irony towards the scenes. Many of his earlier works consisted of music that was not composed directly for the movie. 


A couple things i found interesting was the dialogue between Tarintino's characters. In some situations the conversation had set tension to the film while others were original and interesting. Another would have to be the jump between scenes which in my opinion helps get the audience involved with the movie as they piece together the story in its correct form. Tarintino has a great way of getting audiences emotionally involved whether it be the content in its movies or jump between different times in his story telling.