Oh Goodie, another drug flick!

Rating: 2/10 (20 January 2007)

"Requiem for a Dream" (hereafter "Requiem") may be well-acted, expertly-directed, and perfectly explicative of the situation drug users find themselves in but I'm not in a position to tell you about any of those things. I know nearly nothing about making movies and know even less about drugs. So instead of singing praises for how well this film portrays a certain kind of lifestyle, or for discussing its artistic merit, I'll restrict my comments to experience watching the film. In short, it was boring.
The film has very little plot. It's quite evident from the beginning that it sets up a parallel between drug abuse by the mother of the main character, the main character himself, and his friends. The film makes it quite clear that it'll track their comings and goings as they sink further into addiction and watch the substance of their lives slip away. It tries to weave these parallel stories together in a way that dramatizes their experience. It turns out that this is not a really engaging way to arrange the events of an film. It's kind of, well, boring.
The film uses lots of dizzying imagery to, I suppose, express what the drug-influenced characters may be feeling. These effects irritate the senses. There's nothing interesting about watching a character on screen act kinda crazy and see his fridge come to life. Similarly, it's not fun to be subjected to erratic camera movement or any of the film's other visual effects. When time is condensed and the camera moves about the scene swiftly, the viewer is often left remembering why he or she doesn't spin in offices chairs for fun: because being dizzy is not enlightening or interesting, it just makes one feel sick.
Let me close by saying that I really don't understand the drug film genre. Films of this type often seek to tell us how awful our lives can be if we become addicted to drugs. But I don't think this is such a valuable service. I, for one, I already knew that; reason helped me conclude such without Hollywood's help. I therefore cannot imagine that films like this can actually be deterrents, instead they stand as documentation of what it must be like to live a horrible existence. These films can't really be artistic, per se, they can just give us a look into a much worse life than reason allows us to pursue. If that kind of thing gives you your kicks, by all means watch the film. If, however, you prefer films that tell stories about complexities inherent in living reasoned, well-examined lives this film will prove to be just a bore. Skip it and watch a film that offers substance instead of pseudo-experience.