Tagline: No day but today.
Rent movie storyline. Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning revolutionary rock opera Rent tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to express themselves through their art and “measuring their lives in love.” Against the gritty backdrop of New York’s East Village, these friends strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
Rent’s diverse and unconventional community is made up of impassioned and defiant individuals. Roger (Adam Pascal) is an aspiring songwriter who has emotionally shut down after his girlfriend’s suicide. Despite his attraction, he is reluctant to start a new romance with his downstairs neighbor Mimi Marquez (Rosario Dawson), an exotic dancer struggling with “baggage of her own.”
Roger’s roommate Mark (Anthony Rapp) is a filmmaker trying to balance art and commerce. His girlfriend Maureen (Idina Menzel), a self-indulgent performance artist, recently left him for a lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Also part of this close-knit circle is Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin), a professor of philosophy who, after being mugged, is rescued by his soul mate, a high-spirited, street drummer, Angel Shunard (Wilson Jermaine Heredia). Benny, (Taye Diggs), who alienated his friends after he married their landlord’s daughter, has reneged on his promise to provide rent-free artist space to his bohemian friends. Once a close friend, he is now viewed as the enemy, threatening them with eviction.
Rent is a 2005 American musical drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, in turn based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème. The film depicts the lives of several Bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, drugs, paying their rent, and life under the shadow of AIDS. It takes place in the East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990. The film features six of the original Broadway cast members reprising their roles.
Rent was filmed in Super 35 mm film format. Some exterior scenes were actually filmed in New York. The Life Cafe scene was shot in a warehouse in Alameda, CA. The New York East Village was a backlot set at Warner Bros; the interior and remaining exterior shots were filmed in San Francisco. Some additional exterior scenes were filmed in San Diego, “Take Me or Leave Me” is filmed inside the famed Filoli House in Woodside, California (San Mateo County, California), Oakland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
About the Story
On Christmas Eve 1989, aspiring filmmaker Mark Cohen, and his roommate, Roger Davis, learn that the rent previously waived by their old friend and landlord, Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III, is due (“Rent”). Their former roommate Tom Collins shows up and gets mugged. Mark and Roger meet with Benny, who tells them he plans to evict the homeless from the nearby lot and build a cyber studio (“You’ll See”). He offers them free rent if they get Maureen, Mark’s ex-girlfriend, to cancel her protest against his plans, but they refuse.
A street drummer, Angel, finds Collins and they bond since they have AIDS. Roger, who is HIV-positive and a former drug addict, tries to compose his one last great song (“One Song Glory”). He’s visited by his downstairs neighbor, Mimi, an exotic dancer and heroin addict (“Light My Candle”).
On Christmas Day, Mark and Roger are visited by Collins and Angel (in drag), bearing gifts (“Today 4 U”). They invite Mark and Roger to attend Life Support, an AIDS support group. Roger turns them down, while Mark goes to fix Maureen’s sound equipment. He runs into Joanne, Maureen’s new girlfriend, who bonds with him as they discuss Maureen’s promiscuity (“Tango: Maureen”). Mark arrives at the Life Support meeting (“Life Support”). He films the meeting for the documentary he’s making about people living with HIV/AIDS.
Mimi visits Roger (“Out Tonight”). Roger, whose ex-girlfriend died of HIV/AIDS, rebukes her advances and throws her out (“Another Day”). The next day, he joins Mark, Collins and Angel at a Life Support meeting (“Will I?”). Leaving the meeting, the group imagines what it would be like to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico (“Santa Fe”). Roger and Mark leave to help Maureen set up for her performance, and Angel and Collins reveal they are falling in love (“I’ll Cover You”).
Maureen performs her song that calls out Benny for changing who he was when he got married and blames him for trying to shut down the tent city (“Over the Moon”). The performance starts a riot because Benny called in police to make sure the protest stayed peaceful, but it escalated into violence. Once the protest is over, the group goes to The Life Cafe and celebrates Mark selling his riot footage to a local news station (“La Vie Boheme”). Roger and Mimi reveal they are falling for each other, and reveal they are HIV positive (“I Should Tell You”). They share a kiss and continue celebrating with their friends (“La Vie Boheme B”).
On New Years Day, Benny has padlocked the apartment, but Angel breaks the lock with a garbage can. Mark takes a job at Buzzline, the television news program he sold his riot footage to. After another fight, Maureen proposes to Joanne; the relationship ends when Maureen flirts with another woman at the engagement party (“Take Me or Leave Me”). After being persuaded by Mimi, his ex-girlfriend, Benny gives the group back their apartment. Over the following year, Roger grows distrustful of Mimi, and their relationship ends (“Without You”). Angel’s condition gets worse and she dies in Collins’ arms. At Angel’s funeral, the group goes their separate ways after a bitter argument (“I’ll Cover You/Goodbye Love”).
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Rent (2005)
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Starring: Idina Menzel, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thomas, Julia Roth, Mackenzie Firgens, Ken Clark, David Fine, Vivis Colombetti
Screenplay by: Chris Columbus
Production Design by: Howard Cummings
Cinematography by: Stephen Goldblatt
Film Editing by: Richard Pearson
Costume Design by: Aggie Guerard Rodgers
Set Decoration by: Barbara Munch
Art Direction by: Keith P. Cunningham, Nanci Noblett
Music by: Jonathan Larson
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving drugs and sexuality, and for strong language.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: November 23, 2005
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