A Piece of Art

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2001)

What is a great movie? Old movies direction and blocking were the theater's with minor variations. Not too many movies really throw away that convention. Like "Pi" director Darren Aronofsky is the star of this movie by not being bound too much by a concept of a movie. Some dislike it when the direction over takes the performance or the story. For those who love color, sound and sight; for those who love a some great edits that creates a montage unlike anything produced before will find a treat here. The subject is dark and story (which is out in front) and performances (Burstyn and Leto in particular) are first rate, but the real star is Darren Aronofsky.
Not sure this makes a great movie, if you think of "High Noon" or "Citizen Kane" (great movies to be sure) as the only style that a "movie" can be. Aronofsky's style does limit the ability to develop characters, but this style also ties two stories together in subtle and not so subtle ways that a character driven movie is unable to do. The story of addiction in many forms, shown side by side is striking. Most movies are about the characters, but "Requiem" is, for good and bad, is not bound by that concept. It is about what the characters are going through. This gives Aronofsky great freedom which he uses with great ability. This is a great series of moving images with sound. It is nearly impossible to resist. It is at least a very good piece of art, but I am not sure if it is a great movie.