Ellen Burstyn deserved the Oscar...

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2001)

I am a bit late viewing this movie, as I live in a small town in Tennessee, one whose local cinema would never consider showing a film such as this...it wasn't until I purchased the DVD that I was able to see it. I was anxious to see "Requiem for a Dream" because I had loved "Pi" so much...and I was in no way disappointed, even though the two films are vastly different. While "Pi" was stark (mainly because of the b&w cinematography), claustrophobic and had an overwhelming sense of the main character's obsession and paranoia, "Requiem" is loving despite the cruelty, haunting, beautiful, and heartbreaking. The cinematography is stunning; even when these characters begin to fall apart before our very eyes, the camera and the lighting still seem to capture a bit of beauty about them, finding a bit of hope, at least for a while. The soundtrack is amazing, and a perfect compliment to the images and the story. Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connelly all give wonderful performances, but this film belongs to Ellen Burstyn. She literally owns every scene she is in (and even a few she is not, because you are still thinking about her character, Sarah, even after the story has moved on). Burstyn deserved the Oscar for this film...to the devil with Erin Brockovich and her push-up bra. I am a high school English teacher, and I would love to be able to show this film to every student in my classes, for many different reasons, the first being to show what great characterization is all about; the second reason would be to show the dangers of addiction...but did I mention I live in a small town in Tennessee?