Requiem for a Dream

Darren Aranofsky is renound for the sound design in his films. Requiem for a dream is no exception, I found it incredible. The film itself is brilliant. I really enjoy Aronofsky's work, there is something wonderfully sickly in the aesthetic of the film. The sound helps this. The soundtrack for one, is fabulous, It adds something almost other worldly to the film. This idea helps with the idea that people are fading with their drug addictions. The haunting strings and low wailing voice make it fit so well with the suffering that the characters go through in the film. The minor key just grabs the audience’s attention, you can tell that the film is going to be a downward spiral for the characters. One example of great sound design I want to point out is In Sara’s Kitchen when the fridge ‘talks’ to her there are several loud points in the film and this is one of them. It makes you jump and is shocking, when a lot of the film is, not quiet as such, more subdued. I think this is a good example of sound helping to tell the story. It shows how strongly this is affecting Sara, it makes the fridge seem like an enemy. The sound help turn an inanimate object into an antagonist, this is a great example of how the sound design is so effective in this film. I also liked how the drug scenes seemed really hazy and realistic. The sound when they injected or took drugs seemed real and unaltered but then the sound design became warped. I like the symbolism of this, and think is shows well that the drugs are doing to the character’s body’s. Again it dies in with the idea of a downward spiral. This film is obviously a portrayal of how the drugs are dragging the lives of the characters into the dirt and the sound design follows this. It helps to tell this story, making it more believable and more effectively heartbreaking to watch. The idea of this sickly aesthetic also comes into play here as during the drug sequences this dizziness and strangeness peaks in these parts making the film more odd and scary for the characters. It shows there complete loss of control when thy take something. I really enjoyed the film and I think that the sound design is an integral part of why it’s so effective. Even though it was extremely depressing I would watch it again because it was a great film, I did have t o go and watch Miranda afterwards to cheer myself up though.