A Dark Journey Worth Taking

Rating: Null/10 (28 December 2000)

Director Darren Aronofsky's previous film effort, known simply as Pi, didn't really impress me that much. It was an overly cryptic, gritty tale that seemed more tedious and frustrating than it was worth. Requiem for a Dream is his newest outing. It's definitely not a pretty picture either, but it's certainly better and more effective. During the course of its running time, it's guaranteed to produce a cringe or a wince in almost any viewer. It's the kind of film with the capacity to disturb and produce a sense of relief when it ends, even though one is glad to have seen it. Ellen Burstyn is at her frumpy and neurotic best as a television-enslaved, middle-aged woman who gets caught in a drug-addicted frenzy of compulsive behavior. Greatly adding to the intensity and momentum of the story is a similar downfall her son (played by Jared Leto) also experiences.
A lot of what makes Requiem work lies in the film's breakneck pacing, structure and cinematography as the two lead characters race toward simultaneous self destruction in different, but equally frightening ways. Depictions of old apartments, bad areas of the city and wasted lives from the ravages of abuse have rarely been more harrowing. In fact, as the film's climax of final scenes unraveled, I was really beginning to squirm; I even toyed with the idea of leaving the theater. Yet like the characters, I was compelled to go all the way. Requiem for a Dream may be many things, and you may not want to see it again very soon. But it is undoubtedly original, unforgettable and a noteworthy contribution to the annals of cutting-edge filmmaking.