A truly powerful, gripping film. Exceptional.

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2004)

Blown away. A modern masterpiece. Its going to be difficult for me to convey my thoughts about this film adequately, considering that it struck so deep but Ill give it an effort.
Requiem for a Dream is a film that I think the theatre going public needs to see more of. As difficult as it is to stomach, the subject matter presented here is done with nothing short of pure genius. The themes are treated with a realism that avoids all of the predictable cliches that could surround a "drug related" film. Fine tuned, ambitious shooting/editing/crafting techniques. Flawless, outstanding performances. A minimal yet interesting and engaging script. This film embodies the spirit of superb film making and then takes it to the next level. I see this as Aronofsky's excellent next step after PI, another engrossing film, but nowhere near as effecting and devastating as this.
It should be noted that this is not an easy film to watch. The climax in this movie is difficult and painful, even though you could see it coming a mile away. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no silver lining, just pure tragedy. Sometimes I think that this sort of
depraved, depressing atmosphere has its place, and Requiem for a Dream illustrates this belief perfectly. We are left with a tragedy, a real true sense of loss. And yet, we havent been brought to this point by manipulative, morally obsessed tactics - the kind of thing that would surround something like reefer madness or any piece of film propoganda. We have been brought to the tragic climax/"message" of this film through Aronofsky's brilliant approach to film and the capabilities it posseses as communicator and artistic medium. He lets his bold, ambitious style speak for itself, and in the end we are allowed to formulate our own opinions based around the images presented to us. More often than not, those opinions will be ones of sadness and pain.
Why did this film strike so deep? I think that Requiem emobodies and illustrates the universal human desire for HOPE by showing us none of it whatsoever. It is concerned with the flip side of hope, the yin of the yang, the lack of it in any capacity. All we can think upon at the end of this film is the absence of hope, and that in itself is enough to instill a strong sense of it within us as viewers.
**** out of ****