Requiem for my smile...

Rating: 10/10 (26 January 2005)

There are some people who dislike movies which make them emotional; I am not one of those people. Requiem for a Dream is one of the most lucid, tantalizing horrors ever placed before my eyes. Forget the monster-slasher movies, forget the bloodstained battlefields, if you want to shudder at the horrors of human existence, you have but to watch this.
The acting is amazing, everyone is good, and Ellen Burstyn is so good I will no long watch the academy awards. I will not go into the plot except to say it's about drugs, that's all you need to know. This film is creative, using split screens and wonderful camera work. It never feels hokey, and most importantly it makes you really want the characters to succeed. The tragedy is so great that it overwhelms you, dulling your senses. The musical score is haunting, and sticks in your mind for hours after the film.
Perhaps the best proof of its greatness was my physical reaction. There are a select few movies which have moved me to tears; this movie brought me to the brink of vomit. Truly this is a cinematic masterpiece of the highest caliber. See it if you have the stomach.
~Ryan