Superb

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2011)

I am on record here as being highly disparaging about Aronofsky's The Fountain, dispirited by The Wrestler, and just plain not liking Black Swan very much.
So it is only fair that I should state, for the record, that Requiem For A Dream is, quite simply, superb. The four interlinked stories are strong, told well with immense verve and imagination, and delivered with powerful performances by all the principals. The two women have, perhaps, the stronger roles and therefore make the greater impact, but everyone here delivers, and then some.
This movie, too, is dispiriting, but the characters are sufficiently sympathetic that you hope that their inevitable descent into tragedy will not happen. But their stories are worth telling, and the telling is visceral and highly effective.