Cinematic Masterpiece - Best Drug Theme Film Ever

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2010)

A few film directors (notably Oliver Stone with "The Doors," Donald Cammell-Nicolas Roeg with "Performance" and Jerry Schatzberg with "Panic in Needle Park") have successfully captured the essence of certain drug experiences, but Darren Aronofsky goes deeper than anyone with this exploration of addiction.
"Requiem for a Dream" is based on a novel by one of the most controversial and important authors in the history of literature, and Aronofsky did it justice with his innovative and astute direction.
The first thing that stands out, from the very first frames of the film, is the totally original soundtrack. It's amazing that this was one of the first movie scores by composer Clint Mansell -- and even more amazing that although the film received a slew of nominations and awards, the composer was only nominated once. The "modern music" score forms a lush, smooth platform for the choppy but never incoherent storyline and erratic camera moves, and a masterful array of electronic sound efx punctuate the emotional beats.
The story is centered around Jared Leto's character, a nice Jewish boy on a very bad track, and the three people closest to him. Ellen Burstyn should have taken the Oscar for her multi-faceted performance as his nice Jewish mama victimized by a pill-pushing doctor, but all four characters are brilliantly portrayed as we follow them on their paths of degradation. Economic snippets of early life flashbacks add depth to their characterizations.
Aronofsky is equally adept at capturing the dizzy rapture of drug abuse and the sad descent of the users. The moment when Leto first persuades his girlfriend to fetch some drug money is as fine a cinematic moment as has ever been filmed. While most filmmakers would use close-ups for such an intimate moment, Aronofsky uses a long medium two-shot from behind. Jennifer Connelly's expression (in profile, no less) conveys a wealth of disturbed emotions, while Leto's hidden face and hunched posture are all we need to experience his total shame and desperation. For the first time the nice boy realizes he is now something less than nice. And his higher class girlfriend realizes she is about to cross an irreversible line for him. Or more correctly, for the drugs he has hooked her on. Their happy-go-lucky love affair is no more. Replaced by love of the drug.
This film is worth watching on so many levels. The great performances. The brilliant film-making techniques. The uncommon score.
If I were a parent, I'd watch it with my children as soon as I felt they were intelligent enough to understand it. It's like a vaccine shot against drug abuse... and against falling into other people's messes.