The most amazing thing about this film and even now it completely blows my mind, is the masterful cinematography and editing. I make no reservations when I say that this film has the best use of camera shots I have ever seen especially from the frequent use of sequencing different shots together to form scenes of, for example Sarah when she is taking amphetamines while watching TV, drug use or the various other awful things that the main characters do in this film are so powerful from the way that they make the audience feel such strong empathy and most importantly from the way that we literally become the people that the film is portraying. The best scene in the entire film by far is at the end when the four main characters are all following their grisly paths doing or having things done to them that noone on this planet would want and it cycles in a pattern from each character to the next constantly continuing from what they are being forced to do so to take you through a step-by-step walkthrough: (Big spoilers alert)
Cuts to a scene of Marion being forced to insert a dildo into her vagina and have sex with it while another girl does, constantly cutting from this to men encircling above her cheering her on and waving money at her.
Cuts to a scene of Sarah being force-fed by doctors because she refuses to eat from her withdrawal symptoms of the amphetamines.
Cuts to a scene of Harry about to having his left arm severed off due to the potentially fatal infection that has spread through his arm as a result of his drug abuse.
It's scenes like this one throughout the entire film that make it so good, it creates this sense of hysteria and chaos that are so unpleasant that at points it is almost too much to bear and most importantly the shots used are very significant, for example when Marion is at the orgy at the end and we see from her eyes lots of men above her cheering her on and waving money etc, this shot shows how her life has become dominated by men offering money for her body and due to her addiction she ends up having literally no control over herself. It is difficult to state too highly how beautifully orchestrated this cinematography is, it is wrong to claim that Darren Aronofsky (the director) has made some original here but what he did was take the idea of sequencing shots, constantly cutting different clips that all have either time or place in common to form one scene, and turn it into such a powerful display of empathy and entrapment that the audience literally begins to suffer from the idea that they can't escape from the minds of the unfortunate people this film follows.
Another very important cinematographic technique Aronofsky uses here is repetition, most significantly with the consumption of drugs. Whenever Harry 'shoots up' rather than showing from this from a standard third person camera shot of him inserting a needle into his arm, it will do a sequence of shots featuring for example a lighter, smoke and the pupil of Harry's eye (extreme close up) widening. This is far more effective than a generic view of him just taking drugs as it allows Aronofsky to constantly repeat this same sequence whenever Harry 'hits up' and it also has a powerful effect on the audience as it creates this repetitive feel when he does (and trust me, he does alot!) that shows the way Harry resorts to drugs whenever he can, because of the way it is constantly hammered into the minds of those watching. It also emphasises how much these drugs have come to dominate the lives of those concerned as it seems to be all we see is just their pupils widening in practically every single scene and it makes us feel realise very powerfully how little they could do without it which certainly leads to a rather gruesome or undignifying end for all of them.
The film was very well acted with an especially strong performance from Ellen Burstyn who plays an elderly widow who's son is a drug addict. She slowly becomes madder as she is prescribed amphetamines (it was legal then I think) to help her lose weight so she can go onto a self-help TV show leading to her slowly taking more and more of the amphetamines to the point where she is overdosing so much she hallucinates heavily and suffers to severe paranoia. She used facial expressions extremely well, able to have a constant look of non-understanding but at the same time delusion that she knows what's going on. Furthermore, her hysteric manner when she addresses people, with a sense of certainty and lostness (not a real word but I couldn't think of one to properly describe it) simultaneously, is so convincing that at points I was genuinely labouring under my own delusion that she was a crazy person as opposed to a great actress. The other actors were all strong and I found no room for criticism here.
Needless to say the music was very good, the soundtrack is extremely famous and most notable is Lux Aeterna which is the main theme music and has featured heavily throughout pop culture since and is a legacy to this masterpiece.
If I had to be picky for the sake of it I would say that the film has a slightly abrupt ending as although there is plenty of build-up it is difficult to see where it all honestly climaxes and frankly I was slightly disappointed to see that I wouldn't be able to find out what happens to Harry and Marion. However Sarah has a very well closed ending and the moment when we see her at the end and her friends begin to cry outside after shows what a wreck she becomes as a result of the amphetamines and this contrast to the start when we see the same friends cooing over her is demonstrative of how far she has come. I haven't mentioned Tyrone so far (the fourth main character) and this was the other main weakness with the film as I struggle to see what point he really had in the film. Sure, he was well acted but all he did was act as an accessory to Harry and frankly fulfilled exactly the same role Harry already did, so I believe he was very unnecessary to have in the film.
Overall I would rate this film a 9.1 as I think it is extremely powerful with a very haunting message that will keep anyone away from drugs (unless they're already addicted or something, but that's besides the point). It was very well acted with an outstanding performance from Ellen Burstyn that certainly leaves food for thought as one contemplates how unfortunate her fate was, and also as one wonders whether it was inevitable anyway as she certainly seemed slightly unhinged already at the start of the film. However, the real winner of this film which is what earned it such a high review is the literally perfect cinematography, it completed the film and wrapped it up with a little bow to go with and I can honestly say I have never experienced anything better in that respect and will not expect to for at least a good decade if not more.
No comments:
Post a Comment