a great but sad movie

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2014)

Requiem for a Dream is an astonishing and life changing movie directed by Darren Aronofsky. While definitely for mature audiences only, I believe one can gain a better perspective of drug addiction by watching the film. The story is startlingly too real and will leave the viewer on the edge of their seat with an eerie feeling of depressing doom. Aronofsky uses this film to portray dark truths of drug addiction through the eyes of the addict, giving us insight into a darker place many Americans are affected by. As a viewer, one is drawn into the minds of four not so unordinary people affected through their drug use in the most artistic and touching story. While there are many false illusions, the reality of dead ends and inevitable doom is always hiding in the darkness.
Requiem for a Dream takes place in New York City. We follow the lives of heroin addict Harry Goldfarb, his mother Sarah, his girlfriend Marion, and his best friend Tyrone played by Marlon Wayan(The Wayans Bros). Harry, Marion, and Tyrone all have dreams of bright futures and start selling heroin to raise money. As they begin to make money, all three characters seem to be happy. Their illusions of happiness and partial success are most likely due to their increasing drug use throughout the movie. Aronofsky does a wonderful job using quickly cutting scenes to show them getting high. As their drug use increases these cut scenes become more frequent and quickly paced. One begins almost to not even notice. This greatly helps to show how drugs, particularly heroin, cause Harry, Marion, and Tyrone to slide faster and faster into their worsening addictions.
Simultaneously, Sarah spends her time as a lonely mother and widow alone in her apartment watching infomercials. Harry's mom is lucky enough to be invited to be featured on her favorite show for an episode hosted by Tabby Timmons. This is a dream come true! She decides she must wear her favorite red dress she wore to Harry's graduation on the set. This becomes the beginning of her downfall upon realizing she has gained weight and that the dress no longer fits. In effect, she visits a quack doctor who is quick to prescribe her weight loss pills which are actually speed. Now Sarah spends her days heavily medicated on increasing doses of amphetamines. She sits high and endlessly watches her infomercials, anxiously awaiting a letter from Tabby Timmons to follow up on her invitation to be a television star.
As another season passes, the beginning of the end starts to unfold. Tyrone gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and is thrown into jail. Harry and Marion spend most of their money to bond him out. New York City also begins to go into a heroin drought due to gangs and violence. With limited money and supply of drugs, Harry, Marion, and Tyrone begin to grow more and more desperate. The more they need money, the more morals get tossed out the window. At this point all false signs of happiness have been removed. Sarah is growing delusional and extremely dependent on her balance of speed during the day and depressants to sleep at night. Her prescriptions cause her to fall in to a fantasy land of television and food pushing her to insanity.
Without spoiling the ending, one must know that it is not a happy one. Driven by desperation, Tyrone and Harry decide to drive down the entire east coast to Florida in search of drugs. This irrational act leaves Marion and Sarah in New York remaining in their own desperation. It is a fact that hard drug addiction primarily ends by placing individuals in jails, institutions, and even death. Our four characters undergo great personality changes throughout the movie resulting from their savage addictions. None of them fall short of these endings either, but one must watch the movie to find out for themselves.
Requiem for a Dream is one of my favorite movies because its intense story line and artistic style of filming. This psychological thriller also has an educational aspect in the fact it teaches viewers the dangers of drug use. How appetizing do the words amputations, prostitution, murders, prisons, and electroshock therapy sound? These are few of the many things Aronofsky uses as examples to provide warnings not to fall into the dark culture of drug addiction. This film leaves me with little negative feedback. I believe it paints a perfectly dark and somewhat gruesome picture of reality. The music selections and artistic scenes go hand in hand in creating their own unique type of beauty. One cannot put into words the cycle of drug addiction. It is a place where people find themselves alone and helpless. This movie is great because it allows us to experience the pain and sorrow from the safety of our couch. Any movie that is able to withdraw emotions from me, whether good or bad, is a movie that was made correctly. Requiem for a Dream is extremely emotional, and it leaves the viewer feeling breathless and alone.
Above sits a desperate and lonely Harry contacting his love, Marion, from a payphone.
In conclusion, someone is truly missing out if they do not watch Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream. While the subject matter remains touchy for some and downright depressing for all, this movie has a bluntly real plot with the potential to change lives. Drugs are bad, and there is no better way to show this other than being a junkie and living out a more personal horror story. Becoming a desperate drug addict is obviously not a wise choice, so I recommend watching the film instead.