Innovative and unflinchingly gruesome

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2008)

Requiem for a Dream is, undoubtedly, an example of exquisite craftsmanship and visionary film-making. It reinforces the anti-drug theme- but this time round, Aronofsky decides to go for a frontal assault and leaves you with harrowing images. Briefly, the story charts the course of 4 lives, imperfect and ordinary to begin with, through three seasons. The Summer is the high of addiction, where things seem a little bit more colorful and hopeful than usual; the Autumn is when it all starts to crumble while the Winter marks the absolute destitution, even the death of hope.
The visual techniques are what set this apart and the intriguing camera placements, split-screen scenes, the montages add to the experience. Coupled with the truly outstanding music, it is an attempt to get the audience invested in the proceedings.
The performances are inch perfect, led by a brilliant Ellen Burstyn.
My disquietude with the movie arises from the overt usage of striking visuals, a distinct attempt to gross the audience out. Aronofsky unravels the characters and their vulnerabilities- and just when you though that it was enough, he kicks you in the guts again. There is nothing redemptive in this movie at all, which I found disturbing.