Candy for the eyes and poison for the emotions

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2002)

Ancient Greek culture pioneered the tragedy and mastered the art of touching the emotions of the audience. There is a term - "catharsis" - which means "a purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear, described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience." Darren Aronofsky successfully incorporated this catharsis into his visually stunning emotional parachute-less sky-dive "Requiem for a Dream".
I watched the movie alone, immediately captivated by his directing style. By the time the movie had finished I was left feeling empty but cleansed. His frightening pinnacle and resolution sequence near the film's end brought me to my knees but also left with me sense of purity and hope. After seeing this movie I felt that everything around me was beautiful. This takes me back to a theory of Chuck Palahnuik the author of Fight Club. After threatening a shop clerk to death with a gun in the back of his head. Tyler Durden lets the poor man go only to say, "Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessell's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal he has ever eaten." After hitting rock bottom and finding you have wasted every aspect of your life you can find peace and beauty everywhere.
When I re-watched the movie with my girlfriend she broke down sobbing at the film's ending sequence, but she wouldn't let me touch her to comfort her. It was an amazing little experience to see someone so abused by a film. I was still upset to see her this way - don't get me wrong.
Requiem for a Dream is the only movie as of recent that has taken my emotions hostage and abused me however it pleased.
If you enjoyed the directing in this film I recommend Amelie - this a much more light-hearted and funny movie, almost on the opposite end of the spectrum from Requiem. Both of these films have drastically altered my perception between good film and epic film.