In most traditional and conventional Hollywood and Indie films, the camera plays the role of the
third person or third person omniscient narrator, and is given full reign of the territory of the film, possessing
the ability to see and hear everything. The camera takes a step back and plays the role of an observer, limited
to showing the story of the film from an outsider's perspective. In Pi and Requiem (to a certain extent) the
camera plays a much different role; it is restricted to showing either shots of the protagonists or shots from
their perspectives. In Pi, the camera actually becomes Max for many scenes, showing the world through his eyes as
opposed to simply observing him.
Essentially, all the elements: sound, music, image, narrative, stylistic and technical forms,
editing innovations, etc, are adding up towards one common goal: to get the viewer inside the character's heads.
This is equally true in Pi and Requiem, with disturbing results in both cases. Especially in
Requiem, our (the viewer's) march towards the end of the film, inhabiting the characters as we do, is an
extremely disturbing feeling. Add to this that the entire structure of Requiem has been constructed to make
us feel as if we were sliding down a slippery slope (the film has somewhere around 3000 cuts, a record number, and
they speed up mathematically, as described in the sound section, as the film progresses), and the climax is
downright terrifying.
For example, as Harry and Tyrone first become drawn into the world of some unnamed drug (heroin),
the scenes are pleasant and even fun to watch, yet as they begin to descend into their addictions, the movie
follows their downward spiral becoming almost painful to watch and impossible not to watch. When Sara Goldfarb
has finally hits rock bottom and goes wandering the streets of Brooklyn in her nightgown, the use of the Snorricam
creates an almost nauseating effect, as if we were looking through the eyes of a disturbed speed freak.
It is in this sense that both Pi and Requiem for a Dream are modern, TV culture-inspired treatments
of the classic monster film. Aronofsky said as much himself numerous times of Requiem, and of Pi as
well: "The only difference between my film and Frankenstein is that the monster is named Euclid. It's just a
digital retelling of Frankenstein."
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