the definitive film experience

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2001)

I have just read over this and realised it is hard going to understand the film, but I am not trying to help you understand the film, I am trying to put down my feelings on this film. So I think I succeeded. It may not make sense but it is hard to make sense of my thoughts on this film. Enjoy.
Ok, I am sitting here listening to my copy of the requiem for a dream soundtrack. Supermarket sweeps, oh boy, this is the point of no return and it is about to get messy. I listened to the soundtrack before I see the film, and...well I really wanted to see the film after listening to this music. The last three songs, well they were hard. They were hard to sit through. My hairs were standing on end and I felt, well I can't honestly say how I felt but it was not a happy feeling. It was a feeling of knowing something bad was going to happen but not knowing what. Now this music is among the most moving, beautiful music I have ever heard, but it is hard. So this leads us onto the movie. I fortunately got to see it for the first time last night, on my friend's dvd player. Now, if you do plan on watching this, try really hard to find it in widescreen anything else is just not good enough to handle this experience.
I shall only give you a rough run down on what the film is about and I shall do it quick. 4 main characters, Sara (Ellen Burstyn), Harry (Jared Leto), Marion (Jennifer Connely) and Tyrone (Marlon Wayans). Sara is Harry's mother, she is old, she is alone, her husband has died and the only time she sees her son is when he comes round to pawn the television for crack. The only thing in her life is food and TV. One day she gets a call telling her she is going to be on TV, yay, this is great, she is so happy. So she goes and gets her best dress out, her red dress, and she tries to get into it but she has put on too much weight, she is fat. Her neighbours give her tips on how to lose weight but eventually she settles for pills. One blue in the morning, one white at lunch, orange in the afternoon, and green in the evening.
Then we have her son Harry, a nice boy, wouldn't really hurt anyone on purpose. He can't help it that his mother reacts so badly to him `borrowing' the TV. He tries his best to be good, but that crack is just soo good. He has a wonderful girlfriend who he loves more than anything, Marion. She wants to become a fashion designer, and she too is on crack. Harry's best friend Tyrone is the cool man, he is the man who knows people, he can get the crack real easy. So Harry and Tyrone set up a business, buying a little crack and resell it, buy a bit more sell a little more. Things are starting to really look up, they have a nice pile of money and things are going good. Summer, last summer. Then crack runs out, the fall. Only a few people have any and they are selling for double the price. So Harry and Tyrone have a good idea, if they go out to Florida and buy some there, then bring it back, they can sell it for twice the price and become rich. The beginning of the end.
This is the most intense, violent film I have ever seen. It is not an action violent film it is an emotionally violent film. There is actually only one scene of violence in the film, it is sudden and largely hidden, but it is shocking. Much like the rest of the film. A lot of the more horrifying scenes are hidden or not shown. What is shown is horrifying but what isn't shown is even more horrifying. The film will not attack you with a gun and explosions, it will not attack you with coarse language (nearly no swear words). But it will attack you, it will squeeze your heart until you can't breathe anymore and your body shakes and quivers. And it all happens so quickly that one cannot prepare for it. There is plenty of warning that it will not all go well, but until the moment before it does the viewer has no idea it will be that bad. Ok, selling and doing drugs is a bad idea, everyone knows that, it isn't much of a warning that something bad well happen. Everything is so nice and normal throughout the entire film, there isn't any warning. And then suddenly you are in the very pits of hell. I've seen many shocking films, horrible films, films that have been banned in half the world. But from now on I will always think of those films as Julia Roberts films. They are fluffy, they are nice. Fight club is weak and fluffy, bad lieutenant if a nice stroll in the park. there has never, and most likely never will be a film as...there isn't a good enough word to describe it. there will never be a film as uncompromised and sick and disgusting and horrifying and REAL AND BEAUTIFUL and everything. It is hard to write a review of this film. It is hard not to feel emotional and sad when writing about this film. I knew that the end was shocking, that life turned bad, but, I never ever could've imagined it would be like this: I don't want to tell you, I want you to see it one day, when you are ready, and I want you to feel lost, I want you to feel sick, I want you to feel afraid and small and pathetic. This film won't let you get out in one piece. I feel like I need to hold onto it in my head forever and if I ever forget I will have lost something I needed to know. anybody who sees this film and feels nothing should be locked up, there is something seriously wrong with a person who feels nothing when they gaze upon this film.
But, I don't feel dirty. Sometimes there are films that show a dark horrifying side of life in such a way that they make the viewer feel dirty, but this, no, no it doesn't feel like a snuff film or a piece of porn, it doesn't feel dirty, it feels real, it feels sad. The thing which makes this film work so amazingly well is the characters and the actors who portray them. We are not forced into liking them, they are not incredibly special and wonderful and we feel incredibly sorry for them. But we do feel for them, we don't hate them, we care about them and we like them, but not so much that the caring totally about them gets in the way of viewing this film. It is hard to explain. The viewer feels for the characters, they are likable, but not to the point where we just collapse emotionally at the thought of what is happening to them. The viewer is kept alive and in touch with every tiny thing that happens on the screen, and this is what makes them such an incredible experience. The first thing I said after watching this `That was the finest piece of film making I have ever seen, absolutely. But it is the worst piece of entertainment I have ever seen.' I do love this film, I will own it one day, and I will see it again. I love it because it does not lie to me, it doesn't pull any punches and pretend to make things better or worse. It is real, it is completely uncompromised.
Ok, I have ranted and raved about the emotional aspects enough. How about the actors? Well let's start with the Oscars. Every single award ceremony in existence means nothing anymore. That Julia Roberts won all the major awards and Ellen Burstyn only got a couple of awards from awards ceremonies no one has ever heard of is an outrage. It is impossible to describe her performance in more words than one. Perfect. It is gut wrenchingly real, the grinding of the teeth, the hyper-tension. And that fridge!!! That f***ing fridge!! Never in my life have I been more scared by something in a movie. And it is all brought to life so well. As for Jared Leto, he is excellent. He should go on to become a very fine actor. His performance here is also wonderful, everybody is wonderful. The direction is startling. I have heard a lot of people complain and say it is just another stupid cut cut MTV directional style but it isn't. The incredible amount of work that was poured into the film is amazing. Watching the making of and listening to the audio commentary, it is amazing, why they choose to do this and how much trouble they had to get this just right. And if it had been done any other way it would've lost the impact. Amazing, amazing describes it all.
This film is important. It is more important than fight club, it is more important than any single film made in the last twenty years. This is a film which should change the art of film making, it should help change the censorship system and should change the way people view films like this. But it won't. it made less than $4 million American dollars over a period of 9 months in America. Compare this to the mummy returns which is already up to $140 million in 2 weeks. It is so sad. This film should be shown in high schools. It should be a class all by itself. If the governments want to deter kids, hell, anybody from taking drugs, from getting into prostitution, if they are really serious about showing how bad it can all be, then this is the film to show them. When I have kids, the day that I think they are ready to handle it, I will show them this film. It will do more to help them keep away from this scene than I could ever do in talking to them, more than any stupid government campaign could ever do. I will never take diet pills. I will never do any kind of drug. I will never ever have anything to do with the sex industry. Not totally because of this film but it has certainly made me resolution rock solid, more than anyone or anything else could ever have done.
This film will open your eyes, for better or worse you will have learned something. And the most horrifying part of all: the acceptance. As they curl up into a fetal position they accept what has happened to them. They accept that they will be raped and tortured and will never again do a single beautiful enjoyable thing with their lives. They accept it and it is real.
So, should you see this? Yes, no maybe, I don't know. if you feel that you really cannot cope with it then don't. we do not want anyone freaking out and mentally collapsing. But, if you think you can, if you want to see something different, something unique and real, then this is the film. But just remember, it will not be easy. This is the hardest film I ever watched. And it is also the most rewarding.