Requiem to a dream (directors cut)

After watching the movie "Requiem to a Dream (2000)", I feel that the movie had manage to hit its purpose on being a psychological drama film. This is because the film hits me psychologically by showing me the negativity of taking drugs and a life of a drug addict. It also shows me the effect on drugs on the characters mentally, the pain felt by the characters in the film is clearly shown to the audience.

The editing used in the film is montage, which is the usage of fast cuts and arrangements of short videos to give the meaning of something. This is used in the film to show the process of taking the drugs by showing short shots like the fire being lit, the money being rolled up, the drugs on the table, water boiling, blood cells in the vain and lastly pupil dilating. The short videos itself would mean nothing, but with clever editing and placement, it gives the clear meaning to the audience.

Besides that, the composition used in the film further boosts the effect of the film. For example, the close up shots in the film enhances the psycho effect in the film, especially scenes of the character's mother "Sara Goldfarb" going crazy due to the effect of the drugs. Furthermore, the time lapse effect in the film enhances the message in the film. Instead of just filming the effect on drugs on the people, time lapse enhances the effect as people can be seen doing the same things repeatedly.

The Mise-en-Scene of the film is very good, especially the make-up of the characters which shows they are pale from all the drugs, their lips are slightly purple instead of red, their body is skinny and unhealthy, their clothes are dirty and tattered. These boosts the effects of the film and clearly hits the audience with the drug addict lifestyle. The make up of the part where Harry Goldfarb takes his arm out to show the wound from the drugs is cleverly used as it disgusts the audience, it also shows the pain that he has to go through from the drugs.

In conclusion, i feel that this film is a very good film as it is very eye-opening and educational as it shows the negativity from the effect on drugs. This film shows the mental state of the characters and make it feel like i am really there, experiencing the situations felt by the characters. I find that no other films could do as good as this film in showing us the lifestyle of the drug addicts.