Visually Arresting and Emotionally Devastating, "Requiem for a Dream" Strikes The Viewer With Audacious Pragmatism

Rating: 5/10 (2 June 2007)

Director Darren Aronofsky's first feature-film, Pi was his critically-hailed and disturbingly warped vision of a troubled genius. Requiem for a Dream is just as troubling and carries even more critical acclaim, with its powerhouse image of spiralling drug abuse. Commonly referred to as a "drug film", Requiem for a Dream does not take the same path as other drug films, instead it is an entirely different way of looking at a harrowing situation. Adapted from Hubert Selby's novel, Requiem for a Dream focuses on four drug abusers, who are all in some related to one-an-other. The film illustrates their decaying lives rapidly turning into both mental and physical turmoil. While the film's main focus is the affect of drug addiction on a person's mind and body, it is also a film studying other forms of addiction and self-denial.
Requiem for a Dream is a film which succeeds in being an excellent anti-drug feature, depicting the utmost devastation of drug abuse. Packed to the brim with some of the most innovative film-making in modern cinema it is impossible to deny the film's audacity and glaringly distinct nature. The kinetic, music-video style editing helps to convey a fractured existence, even though at times it is somewhat indulgently overused. The editing, one of the film's most infamous features is undeniably great and is clearly the film's primary technical achievement. Along with the images of the protagonist's dilated pupils the film feels entirely distorted, which is a magnificent method of creating the surreal environment which the film quite literally imposes upon its viewer. Even with its "MTV editing" the film still does not feel as though it is trivialising its content. The cinematography of Requiem for a Dream has an almost hypnotic feel behind its fierce, polarising images of self-destruction through deprivation, which I believe suits the mood of the piece. With the addition of its haunting score -which certainly feels relevant to the film's environment- Darren Aronofsky succeeds at crafting a film which goes against the generalised mould.
Arguably, the film could be interpreted as nihilistic, however I simply see Requiem for a Dream as attempt to express the lack of hope for the character's addictions, and their denial is evidently making their addictions more dangerous. What is special is how the viewer is able to pity and feel empathy for foolish degenerates who have cast themselves into squalor. The performances are painstakingly heartbreaking and horribly honest. Both actors and actresses display their talent in Requiem for a Dream, particularly that of Ellen Burstyn, who gives a nerve-shattering performance of a women who is both addicted to the ideas of fame (the false American dream, something which the film subtly attacks through the subtext of its script), popularity and weight-slimming drugs which give her a reason to "get up in the morning". Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and even Marlon Wayans (a surprising casting choice) all give the performances of their careers, which emphasise their talent to perform in extremely challenging, sadomasochistic roles.
It is a fact that the film takes too long to achieve saying what it wants to say, as the first 30 minutes pontificates, rather than giving the viewer anything to contemplate. Plus, there are some ludicrous moments, such as the mailing scene with the old ladies, which feels highly inappropriate. Nonetheless, along with Trainspotting (which is irrefutably superior) Requiem for a Dream is one of the best anti-drugs films to be released in modern cinema. It is amazing to think that the first "drugs film" was the exaggeratedly peculiar Reefer Madness from 1936, which is now considered hysterically stupid. How times have changed, along with cinema because it is quite apparent that Requiem for a Dream is, and never will be, a laughing matter.