great direction and editing doesn't make up for flat characters

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2000)

i really tried to look fondly back at this film as a "groundbreaking" piece of art as so many have called it... but the more i think about requiem... the more i didn't like it...
the directing and editing was superb... and i will see his next work based solely on the promise he shows as a very able director... both with pi and requiem...
i couldn't relate to the characters... at all... i don't care what film it is... if you want your characters to cause emotional responces from your audience you have to make them connect with the audience... not just shock them with devious sex acts, severe infections, television obsession, and quick editing.
and on top of not relating... i didn't like the characters... i thought they were more pathetic than anything... didn't feel sorry for them one bit... maybe sara... because i see my grandmother going through the same thing with just losing her husband... but that was it... not that my grandmothers a junky... just the pain she feels parallels the character.
you want me to feel bad for a drug addict... give me sick boy, rent boy, or spud. those were characters that i felt sorry for... granted trainspotting is a different type of movie... but the characters related better to the audience... while still getting the same message across... drugs are bad.
i gave it a seven because it tried so hard to be a ten...