A Modern Must-See Classic

Rating: 9/10 (26 April 2020)

"Requiem for a Dream" looks into the lives of four people who have entered into a world which they have become attached to but ultimately pay the price as once they've walked in it is next to impossible to escape. Jared Leto stars as Harry Goldfarb who along with his girlfriend Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly) and his best friend Tyrone C. Love (Marlon Wayans) go into the drug-selling gig. At first it was intended to make a quick buck so that they could open up a new business because like life itself you have to spend money in order to make money. While this is happening, Harry's mother Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) becomes addicted to television and sweets, she becomes fixated on losing weight so that she can get into her little red dress so that she could become famous and become a national star on television. This leads her to an unhealthy addiction to diet pills. The four central characters end up meeting their fate that comes to the conclusion that their lives will never be the same, their reputations are shot and once they get hooked on drugs, their addictions would eventually end up taking over their lives that they'll never fully return.
Under the direction from Darren Aronofsky, and based on the 1978 novel from Hubert Selby Jr, "Requiem for a Dream" was met with extreme controversy as many critics have claimed that the movie was glorifying drug addicts by using various close-up shots as our principal four characters give a grim, in-your-face depiction of becoming a drug addict and making each character spiral to a boulevard of no return as each scene is panned out repeatedly. These people are way out on a limb, the fact is just the opposite. In fact this movie is a two hour PSA about the dangers and effects that happens when you take drugs and how it affects the lives of other people who's loved ones are also under the influence. The details are severely graphic, but very effective use of imagery to tell its story and the acting was overall really powerful with Burstyn getting an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
When I first came into watching this movie, I was in a naturally good mood and was curious to see if the viewers were right that this film is powerful but severely intense. Well it turns out that were right, in fact that were so right, my mood changed for the worst to the point that I needed to watch 20 cat videos on You Tube to get me back in a better mood.
Even though the "drugs are bad" message is shoved down our throats, Aronofsky succeeds in not making his moral message preachy. Instead he lets the performers do all the actions to get his point across. Aronofsky gives us the truthful but unpleasant task of taking us on the ride where you are living their lives and the ride you're on does not have a light at the end of the tunnel.
Though the performances stand out really well in this movie, the performer that stands above everyone else is Ellen Burstyn. Her story of her fixation of getting on television and losing weight to fir into her red dress can be something we could all relate to. It's relatable, sad, tragic, but most of all, it's powerful albeit dark. It's a shame that the Oscars gave the Leading Actress win to Julia Roberts for "Erin Brockovich".
Though there are few and far between flaws about "Requiem for a Dream", that doesn't mean that this movie is perfect. Though it shows its purpose as to why drugs are bad, it would have been nice to see at least one of the principal four to pull through this ordeal. But to have them all suffer an unhappy ending is pushing the envelope way too far. Although it was great to see Marlon Wayans push his boundaries beyond that of the silly cartoon like comedy movies he's been in to attempt to go beyond typecast, he is still badly miscast because Tyrone is just a one-dimensional character who's a mere sidekick to his friend Harry. Of the leading four performers, his story is the weakest.
The editing is quite innovative with the film using up to 2000 edits which is in compared to most films that use 600-700 edits. After the success of his debut film "Pi", Aronofsky came up new, creative visuals that was also dded into the story as well. Like his predecessor Stanley Kubrick, Aronofsky is quite the perfectionist. So much so that he brought the right to a Japanese animated film "Perfect Blue" as a way to visualize the scene where Marion is screaming in the bathtub.