Review of Requiem for a Dream (2000) by Harry W — 23 Jul 2012

Scoring an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the lead performance of Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream sounded like an interesting film to check out.

There are many films in the world that feel like a drug trip, such as the British films Brazil or Trainspotting. Yet both of those films tie their story into the plot of a complicated story. Due to its low budget, there is not too much that it can really step into exploring. But by camparison to Trainspotting, it is an inferior film. Director Darren Aronofsky does not label the film as being a "drug film", but it has many of the same elements of the genre and so I would label it as such. But in comparison to the even lower budget Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream fails to achieve the same kind of effect.

While Requiem for a Dream has the interesting characters, energy and intensity that Trainspotting had, it is a lot more of a scattered film. The problem is that the focus of the film really fails to justify its ambition because Darren Aronofsky crosses a line that he really was not yet ready for as a filmmaker. While without problem he manages to deliver a strong script to the film which gives the film a lot of strong material for its cast to be working with, he spends too much time attempting to walk before he can really run. To simplify it, Requiem for a Dream is an ambitious film but the plot attempts to follow the stories of four characters as their addictions cause their lives to spiral out of control and as they are faced with reality overtaking their attempts to escape. But the focus of the film is much more on style than it is on substance. Darren Aronofsky's handling of the visual style in Requiem for a Dream makes it an unforgettable experience, but the story really isn't all that much. In an attempt to focus on four characters and their own drug addictions as well as hour they are connected slightly, the story does not keep its focus right. Instead of maintaining focus on a single character while using the others as subplots like in Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights or evenly balancing the story out so that each character gets equal importance like in Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, Requiem for a Dream is so scattered in its focus that it is difficult to determine who the main character really is. It will depend on which character viewers find most interesting, but I personally did not really find them that interesting as they didn't have stories to them or all that much character depth written for them. Requiem for a Dream was a great depiction of the horrors of drug addiction, but as a story it simple lacks depth. As the story went on, I was consistently interested in Tyrone C. Love's story but he didn't get all that much screen time and it took me a while to find interest in Sara Goldfarb's life, while the story of Marion Silver simply did not interest me at all. I guess what I'm really saying is that Requiem for a Dream is more important for its depiction of drug addiction than it is for its story. Perhaps it isn't a drug film, maybe it's an "illness film" for its depiction of drug addiction, falling into the category of Memento for its depiction of anterograde amnesia and A Beautiful mind for its depiction of schizophrenia. So I guess Requiem for a Dream is both a drug film and an illness film, and it is good as an entry into both more so than as a form of storytelling.

But still, for what it's worth, Requiem for a Dream is an unforgettable film. Although it starts out slow, it gradually intensifies more and more due to its characters facing more and more of the horrors of reality as it clashes with their individual drug addictions. The style of the film becomes a lot more trippy and the grotesque imagery increases where it hits a perfect level of excess. Rarely can a film be excessive in its imagery to a point of being seriously beneficial, but Requiem for a Dream achieves that. Thanks to an excellent visual style which benefits from some ambitious cinematography which takes on a lot of creative and atmospheric angles, Requiem for a Dream is so powerful that it is claustrophobic. Viewers of Requiem for a Dream become trapped in the film, and some will find a need to escape it to get away from it all because it is not a film for the weak stomached viewers. Many viewers while find their stomachs churning and their minds collapsing at the effect of Requiem for a Dream because it is such a powerful film. Requiem for a Dream has a shocking strength to it, an unmatched brutality that shows off Darren Aronofsky's genius, and his handling of the nihilistic atmosphere is unforgettable. Requiem for a Dream is a perfect film to depict the real horror of drugs, and if I watched this in my youth I would be so shocked that I would never get involved in any of it. Luckily for me I already donâ(TM)t do drugs, but if I did I would be curious about what kind of effect this would have on me. Requiem for a Dream is arguably the second scariest film I have ever seen, not for its unexpected shocks, but its brutal realism in how it depicts the horrific nature of drug addiction and its consequences from many different charactersâ(TM) perspectives.

Part of the strength in the atmosphere comes from the musical score. Clint Mansella's powerful composition of the music in Requiem for a Dream gives it the emotional edge it needs so that the visual strength of the film is further so that it is both a visual and auditory experience of strength. Requiem for a Dream makes extensive use of the memorable song Lux Aeterna which isn't even the slightest bit repetitive solely because of the kind of strength that the musical piece has. Requiem for a Dream is unforgettable also for its soundtrack, and Lux Aeterna is a musical piece which will fail to ever escape the walls of my mind.

While Requiem for a Dream isn't the best front for Darren Aronofsky as a storyteller, as an example of his twisted genius as a filmmaker and just what kind of shocking effect a film can have when its style is powerful enough. Viewers are bound to walk away from Requiem for a Dream shocked and questioning reality for a time, and if the viewer finds that this constitutes entertainment and great filmmaking, then Requiem for a Dream is the film for them. The film left me crying inside while I could not cry on the surface as the film had been too shocking for me. I found myself shaking as the film trapped me within the mystery of reality, an effect I had not felt since seeing David Lynch's masterpiece Lost Highway, so Requiem for a Dream is the second time that I have walked away from a film with a huge distortion of reality which cannot be broken until I have woken up the next day, and is second in effect to Lost Highway. This is mostly because of the visual style of the film with its atmosphere that traps viewers within sad darkness thanks to its lean cinematography and well timed editing, but it is also because of just how talented the cast is.

In 1974, Ellen Burstyn was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress to Ellen Burstyn for her lead performance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. They gave her the award for the wrong film because there is no possible way that any performance she has ever given is greater than her lead role in Requiem for a Dream. She starts out well as a simple woman, lonely and finding solace in whatever company she receives as well as her interest in infomercials hosted by Tappy Tibbons, and as she develops further into a methamphetamine addiction, audiences bear witness to the true endeavour of her skills as an actress. She becomes so intense in the distortion of her character's reality and her physical appearance weakens more and more while she develops with it in a further twist of fate. She slowly falls apart psychologically which begins to happen more rapidly towards the end of the film, and it becomes so brutal in its strength that audiences are likely to forget having ever seen Ellen Burstyn in any other film up until that point because her lead performance in Requiem for a Dream is a new rebirth for her career. She is shocking in her strength to the point that it is easy to forget that a film is going on, and she gives the finest performance of anyone I have ever seen playing somebody with a drug addiction. Ellen Burstyn lost the Academy Award for Best Actress to Julia Roberts who should have won it in 2013 instead for her performance in August: Osage County over Lupita Nyong'o, and the final image of her in Requiem for a Dream is so brutally powerful that it will haunt me forever. The last shot of her in the film, the face of Sara Goldfarb as she sinks into a delusion forever is one of the most memorable aspects of Requiem for a Dream, and it is unbelievably strong.

Jared Leto's performance in Requiem for a Dream is remarkable. He is a really compelling presence because it is easy to get attached to his character as he expresses a caring nature for his mother, and so the audience is likely to feel the shock of his careless attitude towards drugs overtaking his appropriate sense of right and wrong. Things become more and more intense as the film progresses with Jared Leto's performance being one of the richest aspects of that because he without flinching he tackles the role of Harry Goldfarb and injects a fearless dedication to the character which is so powerful that it is easy to forget that he is actually acting. Jared Letoâ(TM)s organic acting talent is impressive in Requiem for a Dream, and while his character isnâ(TM)t too deep he makes the shocking brutality of the plot dynamics seem a lot more real by truly conveying the loss of reality and physical pain which comes from suffering at the hands of oneâ(TM)s own addiction.

Marlon Wayans is an actor primarily known worldwide for his work in comedy films such as the Scary Movie series, and Requiem for a Dream is one of the rare cases where he steps out into dramatic work. And without a single problem, he makes it an incredible performance. Although his character is very interesting, he doesn't receive enough screen time. But what screen time he does have proves just what his true acting talents are. Marlon Wayans immediately steps out of any comedy association that viewers may have with him for his role in Requiem for a Dream, and he creates an ambitious performance. Although he isn't explored as deeply as the other characters, Marlon Wayans gives possibly the greatest performance of his career in Requiem for a Dream which is an expression of his true talent, and in the role of Tyrone C. Love he makes it seem painfully real with a shocking revelation of fear in his performance. Any fan of Marlon Wayans for his comedy work really needs to see Requiem for a Dream so that they can bear witness to his true acting talents.

Jennifer Connelly doesn't have the most interesting character in Requiem for a Dream because her character doesn't succumb to her addiction as negatively as the other characters, but her performance is great. Jennifer Connelly doesn't get involved in films that are this complex in material very often, and it is good to see her fearlessly stepping up and tackling the material as well as she does. Requiem for a Dream is a good front for her acting skills because her line delivery is intense without going over the top into melodramatic territory. It is constantly great in its restraint, and while she gets a bit much screen time for a character who isn't that interesting, Jennifer Connelly performs with dramatic grace and realism which gives the film the strength that it demands from its actors.

Christopher McDonald also gives a strong supporting performance.

So although its story isn't that deep and its focus is scattered a lot mainly in the first half of the film, Requiem for a Dream is an unforgettable film. It is an example of a film which can leave a truly mesmerising effect on the viewer purely on the basis of its visual style which reminds us of the strength of films, as well as the talents of its cast, particularly Ellen Burstyn who gives one of the greatest and most intense performances of any actresses ever in my life.