Very powerful.

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2005)

I'd heard a lot of reviews and a lot of good things about requiem and finally got a chance to see it on a film four freeview. Nothing could have prepared me for the sheer emotional intensity of this movie. The movie is based around the lives of four people who become addicted to drugs. It is a simple storyline and it follows the different characters as they slowly descend into a drug induced world which is harrowing to watch for the viewer.
Aronofsky's visual style is impressive and the sequences in which he uses to show the injection of heroin are very well done with sharp fast edits. I have heard Requiem compared with the mess that is Spun and it is hard to believe how people can mention the films in the same breath, they are very different and Requiem as a whole is a far superior film.
Ellen Burstyn's performance as Sarah Goldfarb is sensational and i have never seen such a believable and touching performance. The rest of the cast is superb as well, Marlon Wayans shows that he can act, and Jennifer Connolley and Jared Leto are perfectly cast as a young happy couple torn apart by there addictions, a scene between the two of them where they are talking and stroking each other gently is the most beautiful and touching scene i have ever witnessed.
At times requiem is hard to watch but at no time could i take my eyes away from the screen, it is hard to say whether i actually enjoyed the film but it was fascinating and compulsive viewing which kept me interested for the whole of the film. The raw power of the film is something i have never experienced before, it is heartbreaking to watch these characters sink further and further into a drug induced despair and even harder to take the ending.
I sat at the ending of the film for sometime shocked, hurt and moved unable to even cry.
This is a special film but is not for the faint hearted or easily shocked for everyone else it is an absolute must see. Its images will stay with you for a long time.