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Go to your local video shop now. Bypass those pseudo-scary Excorcist-style chillers, and the oh-so-self-aware 'I know what else you also did too last summer 3.' Don't bother with the US military thrillers or the Youth-coming-of-age-and-doing-drugs flicks. Follow my advice, walk into the video shop, walk up to the counter and say, "Have you got requiem for a Dream?' Think 'A Clockwork Orange,' think 'Trainspotting,' then roll a phat one, and settle in for a truly disturbing night.
Requiem for a Dream is the 2nd film from Darren Aronofsky, the critically acclaimed director of Pi. The film centres on the relationship of Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto), his mother Sara (Ellen Burstyn), his girlfriend Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), and his best friend Tyrone C. Love (Marlon Wayans). Each one of them caught up in their own dreams, longing for something better. The film starts with Harry stealing his mother Sara's TV so he can pawn it and get some extra cash for drugs. He does this so often that she has an account with the pawnbroker.
The film focuses on the effect drug use (and abuse) can have on people?s dreams. It shows the horrifying downfall of 4 normal people, victims of their own drug of choice. In each case the drug starts as a solution, a way of making their dreams come true. In the end - like all good anti-drugs educational films - the drugs themselves bring about the downfall of the characters. The gritty reality of the characters is complimented by the stupefyingly slick editing of Jay Rabinowitz, a man who deserves to have an Oscar named after him. His signature being his portrayal of the film's numerous drug-taking scenes. Never gratuitous, never glamorous, drug taking in Requiem for a Dream is over very quickly. The images jump from a bubbling teaspoon, a syringe filling up, piercing skin, blood cells coursing, eyes dilating. Then it's all over.
All the way through, the editing (and the soundtrack) act as a reminder that all is not well. Even when you get to the half waypoint, and everyone is well on the way to achieving their dreams, Aronofsky, Rabinowitz and composer Clint Mansell hold you by the proverbials, making it clear you haven't seen anything yet. From Harry in a prison hospital with his arm missing, to Sara wandering the New York subway in a state of delirium, their fall from grace is as smooth and unavoidable as it is horrific. This treatment only serves to heighten the point of the film. It serves as a long, hard look at drugs -legal or otherwise. From Sara?s 'socially acceptable' speed pills for weight loss to Harry and his friends cutting up heroin in search of an easy income and easy life. Arnofsky asks a lot of hard questions in this film. He is constantly exposing contradictions in society, in individuals, in lovers, in friends, and you will finish the film holding your head in your hands and marvelling at how harsh the world can seem. And you don't leave feeling comfortable with the 'inevitability' of their fates, you don't feel you've been told a story with a discernible moral; trying to lose weight, trying to make more money, doing whatever it takes not to lose your love, these are things we can all identify with. And while all the characters either do or sell drugs (or both) for nearly the entire film, even the most righteous among us is forced to conclude that, "sometimes....drugs happen." From Sara saying, Why should I make the bed Harry? Why should I do the dishes? I've got nobody to look after. Your fathers gone. You're gone. I'm lonely Harry. I'm old." to Tyrone sitting in a redneck hospital to Marion curling up in bed with a 'pound of pure,' I promise you'll be hooked (no pun intended!). If you get any video out this winter, make it Requiem for a Dream.
www.requiemforadream.com - The website is almost as disturbing as the film. A truly interactive journey, which stays true to the look and feel of the movie. Seyi Rhodes