A downward spiral to destruction with no reason or warning

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2001)

There's a scene in Kurosawa's High and Low that depicts a sick drug addict at night in a Tokyo slum. To make us feel the agony of this poor woman, Kurosawa has her scraping her fingernails on corrugated metal. It's torture to the audience to listen to. I've never seen a more effective way to make an audience feel a characters pain than that.
Aronofsky comes very close. His method is to alter time. What's so effective and scary about this film is that there is no comfortable turning point in the script that triggers the descent into destruction. It just happens. And when the audience realizes that they're are being dragged down into hell along with the characters without any warning, it could result in a number of reactions and emotions. There was one point when I realized that my fist was clenched.
I can highly recommend this film to most anyone. It should be seen by every junior and high school student. The party/sex scene should be cut for that though. But if it can scare kids away from drugs, I would label it as an IMPORTANT film.
Lastly, I wish to address the controversy concerning Ellen Burstyn's performance being head and shoulders above Julia's Robert's in Erin Brockovich. Well,........it is. However, anyone with a brain in their head can see that this is not a film that the AMPAS can give their blessing to. Jeremy Irons didn't impress them with his role as a drug addict in Dead Ringers either. Just be grateful that we have this wonderful performance on DVD to watch as often as we want. We intelligent movie lovers who demand stronger stuff in our entertainment can fully and emotionally embrace this courageous woman for literally altering her physical appearance to play this pathetic character. It will only be with the passing of time, that she will be revered and recongnized for giving the best performance by an actress in 2000. Remember in 1941, the Best Picture Oscar went to How Green Was My Valley and the curiosity piece was a strange little film called Citizen Kane.