INTENSITY IN FILM RENT, as mentioned, was based on Puccini’s La Boheme. “In the [Italian] opera, Mimi, the central female character, dies of tuberculosis” (Sebesta, 428). However, RENT was intentionally written to end on a positive note. Hence, this Mimi survives. Now, including the miraculous return from the afterlife that occurs at the very end, there aren’t many light-hearted moments that reside in the film. Beginning with a turbo-charged revolt against a conniving landlord during which tenants complain about living conditions and ending with a theme of loss which stems from the death of Angel and the abandonment of Roger, the dark atmosphere that surrounds the cast sets the tone for the majority of the film. The stage version provides the audience an intermission, a break between the two acts which gives people time to recover from previous melancholy events and share their own responses to the events that took place. People are able to put aside their sorrows from the first act. Afterwards, they return, if not mentally prepared at least more expectant for the somber events to come. However, the film version doesn't provide such a luxury. Rather, the emotion continues to increase and becomes overwhelming for the viewer. Despite the presence of humor within the dialogue and musical numbers, the scenes displayed on the film overshadow the lighter elements. The piece nearly steps outside the musical genre and into melodrama, and the songs seem detached. The film could very well have existed entirely in dialogue; at times scenes make it hard to remember that the film actually is a musical. Then, once the audience seems involved in a scene full of dialogue, a new song erupts. Common among all musical-based films, sudden songs and dance numbers arise from dialogue. However, the way this film conveyed its plot appear far too dark and troubling for any musical numbers. The few happy moments were heightened by their musical accompaniments, but the songs only brought confusion to the melancholy moments. The original Broadway production managed to successfully portray the sadness through the songs since there was no true-to-line scene being shown. However, in the film, the emotions were thrown by the characters' sudden desires to sing.