RENT CHANDANI RAMKISHUN

About the film The movie ”Rent” is based off of the 1996 rock musical with the same title and on the opera “La Boheme” by Giacomo Puccini Director: Chris Columbus Cast: Anthony Rapp as Mark, Adam Pascal as Roger, Rosario Dawson as Mimi, Jesse L. Martin as Tom, Taye Diggs as Benny, Wilson Jermanine Heredia as Angel, Idina Menzel as Maureen, and Tracie Thoms as Joanne. The six main characters in the movie were also seen in the same roles in the Broadway version. 28 songs on the soundtrack Released: November 23, 2005 It was mostly filmed in NYC but some scenes were also filmed in California

Characters

Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0MLyu6HjY

Plot The film takes place in the span of one year. It is set in modern day East Village New York and depicts the struggles of New Yorkers. The film starts on Christmas Eve and opens up with the characters, Mark (an aspiring filmmaker) and Roger ( a failed musician), fighting with their landlord, Benny, because they cannot afford their rent. He offers to waive their rent for life if they can convince their friend, Maureen, to stop her protest against Benny’s plans to gentrify the neighborhood. The scene changes where Collins gets beaten in an alleyway and he meets Angel, who helps him. They both confess their love for each other and reveal that they have AIDs. Mark, and ex lover of Maureen, goes to help her set up for her protest and he meets her girlfriend, Joanne. Back at the apartment, Roger stumbles upon Mimi, another tenant, and they flirt with each other Maureen’s protest gets shut down by cops who start a ruckus. The characters meet up at a café where Roger and Mimi confess that they love each other and are HIV +

Plot ( continued ) After their New Year’s Eve celebration, when they all return to the apartment, Benny has locked them out. Angel breaks the lock and they notice that Benny had taken their things. Benny decides to give them back their things after having dinner with Mimi, which enrages Roger. Meanwhile, Angel falls terribly ill and passes away shortly after. All of the gang attends the funeral but there is no connection between them, Roger and Mimi split, Joanne broke up with Maureen because she was unfaithful, and Mark is in the middle of it all. Roger announces that he is leaving for Santa Fe to restart his life. A few months later, Roger returns to New York because he loves Mimi, Mark finishes his film,. Joanna and Maureen tell Roger that Mimi was supposed to be in rehab but she went missing. They later find her in a park, helpless. She is brought back to the apartment where she is about to die. Roger sings her a song and she gains back consciousness, saying that she saw Angel. The final scene and song is the debut of Mark’s documentary, where the final image is Angel in a white background holding his hand up.

Clips “Rent” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjbMKO6hOOk Last Scene (No Day But Today): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-w_RNchAsk

Crisis Takes place in East Village, NYC The rise of gentrification in NYC The movie depicts the struggles of NYC residents with drugs, sex, HIV/AIDS Many of the characters such as Roger, Mimi, Angel, and Tom suffered with AIDs The characters also struggle with settling in a permanent home as they cannot afford their rent. Maureen and Joanne and Angel and Collins battle with their sexuality.

works cited “La Bhoeme Synopsis”. The Metropolitan Opera. Web.06 September 2016. <http://www.metopera.org/Discover/Synopses/La-Boheme-Synopsis/ >   “Rent”. IMDB. Web. 06 September 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294870/ > Rent. Directed by Chris Columbus. 1492 Pictures, 2005 “Rent”. The France of Victor Hugo. Web. 06 September 2016 <https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/bohem/trent.html >