Awful

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 2001)

This movie was awful. And it was outstanding. It's outstanding because it does not omit parts that don't make us feel warm and fuzzy. Every negative review of this movie I've read has claimed Requiem is a bad movie because it just pointlessly pummels four likeable characters into the ground. People don't like this movie because most people go to a movie to feel good, and Requiem does not do that. They, perhaps understandably, feel betrayed. How dare they include truths that aren't pretty! Does it have to be THAT graphic?
Yes. A sugercoated truth is a lie. And the graphic self-destruction does have a point. Another reviewer felt the movie never mentioned WHY the characters destroy themselves like that. Might I suggest you missed the point? The four characters in the movie all did what they did because they wanted to be somebody. Sara feels useless and empty because her husband is dead and her son is gone. ("I do the dishes, but what's the point?" [I don't know the answer to that myself. Really.]) The idea of being on TV with her red dress makes her feel like she's got something to live for ("it's a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to lose weight"). And she stops at nothing fit into that red dress (symbolism anyone?). Marion doesn't like what she sees in the mirror until she's rocked on coke. She also tells Harry more than once that "you make me feel like a person" (incidentally it's when they're both high. Harry and Tyrone keep dreaming of being high-level dealers ("so those chumps can work the streets for US".)

They all want to feel like they're worth something, and that's why. It isn't just the bitter sadism of some disturbed director. If it looks pointless, you're probably missing something.