Surreal, disturbing, but mostly poetic.

Rating: Null/10 (28 May 2001)

Movies are an art form as well as entertainment, and few movies demonstrate this fact as well as Requiem For A Dream. I read these comments from people complaining there's 'no storyline', 'it's too flashy', 'nothing but a 2 hour anti-drug music video', etc. These people don't have a clue. A requiem is a musical composition to honor the dead. Every person in this movie had a dream, and each dream died as a result of drugs. This movie is a musical composition to honor those dreams. 'Requiem' is a work of art. It does more than tell a story, it draws us in and shows us what's inside the minds of the characters. We do more than watch the events unfold, we experience them. Nowadays, with the blockbusters and special effects, people demand explosions and CGI to be satisfied. Have we forgotten the use of camera angles and framing to establish mood and thought? Apparently Darren Aronofsky hasn't.
I don't think there's a thing that could be changed to make this movie better. The acting was superb. I had no clue at the Academy Awards, but after seeing Ellen Burstyn's performance, how could anyone have given the Oscar to that hack, Julia Roberts? It shows how false and stupid the Academy has become. The editing was top of the line, and the musical score has stuck in my head ever since. Very reminiscent of 'The Sweet Hereafter', the Kronos Quartet brought the characters' emotions to our ears as well as our eyes.
If you didn't walk away from this movie touched, you had no feeling left to begin with.