Addiction Equals Hell... I Guess

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2001)

One complaint that I have with contemporary cinema is the dearth of empathetic characters onscreen. Far too frequently do characters of depth and humanity appear. When a film has both empathetic and non-empathetic characters it creates an interesting effect when trying to evaluate the total work.
Requiem for a Dream involves both kinds of characters. I found myself totally involved with Ellen Burstyn's character -- it had substance, meaning and was performed with a skill that far exceeded her co-stars.
On the other hand, I could have cared less for the characters portrayed by Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. I found the juxtaposition of the Burstyn/Leto & Connelly stories fascinating, but I left the theater wondering what the director was trying to say.
Granted, I assumed that we were to feel sorry for all these tragic people as we watched them going into their downward spiral. Were each of these stories overlapped simply for comparison's sake? Or, were we supposed to feel equally disturbed by the events in Burstyn's and Leto's? It seemed to me that Leto chose his path deliberately while Burstyn tragically lost her way.
Visually, the film is very striking, even if somewhat self-indulgent. (There came a point about midway through the film when I thought if I saw one more dilating pupil, I would lose my mind.) And, although effective, the visual devices are not necessarily original, either. Those who were impressed with the rapid cutting of the final portion of the film should take a look at D. W. Griffith's Intolerance -- a film made in 1916! So much for "cutting edge" (pun intended).
All in all, an effective film, with Burstyn's performance a standout.