For a long time captivated by Hubert Selby Jr's 1978 novel of the same name, Darren Aronofsky felt compelled to adapt it for the screen, and it became a labour of love for the director. Believing that it was an important story to tell about America, Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream explores the lives of four individuals as they spiral into despair, portraying the devastating effects of drug addiction, obsession and the pursuit of a distorted American Dream. The film follows four main characters: Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto), a young man addicted to heroin, who dreams of opening a clothing store; Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), Harry's girlfriend, who becomes entangled in the world of addiction as well; Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), Harry's mother, who becomes addicted to diet pills and a TV game show; and Tyrone C. Love (Marlon Wayans), Harry's best friend and fellow heroin user. As the story unfolds, the characters' lives progressively unravel, exposing the dark side of addiction and its impact on relationships and health.
Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique use a variety of innovative techniques in the film, such as POV camera perspectives, split screens and time lapse footage, to powerful effect. They also employ some old-fashioned horror movie techniques such as practical effects like fake arms and hands, to create truly gruesome scenes that have scarred me forever, especially the sawing off of Harry's heroin-ravaged arm. The way that Aronofsky depicts the drugs physically entering the body, using hip hop montages that connect the stories of the two Goldfarbs, is also so clever. Aronofsky not only uses split screen editing to juxtapose the characters' experiences, creating a sense of tension, but also hyper-kinetic editing techniques that are rapid and disorienting, to convey the characters' psychological turmoil.
Sara's descent into madness as she becomes increasingly obsessed with her appearance and the idea of appearing on TV as a form of redemption is one of just several harrowing narrative threads in the movie, while we also see the intense withdrawal and drug-induced hallucinations experienced by Harry and Tyrone. Such is the extent of the calamity experienced by all four main characters that it becomes hugely challenging for the audience to watch the film’s denouement, so relentlessly negative are the series of events. Burstyn is magnificent as the medication and TV obsessed everywoman of America, plagued by sadness, loneliness (her husband Seymour has died) and constant hunger. The scene in which her living room turns into a game show set has been widely imitated in film & TV, including by Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror. Requiem For A Dream also benefits from one of the great movie soundtracks, composed by Clint Mansell, a haunting and iconic score that adds to the emotional weight of the film's narrative.
The film received critical acclaim for its direction, performances and innovative cinematic techniques, including a nomination for the Palme d'Or at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. Ellen Burstyn also received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Sara Goldfarb. Likewise, the cult success of Requiem For A Dream helped to launch the Hollywood career of Marlon Wayans, while also raising the profile of Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. Hubert Selby Jr himself makes a cameo in the film as a prison guard (my DVD also has a deleted scene of him reading his novel to Burstyn). Requiem for a Dream is a haunting, bleak and uncompromising exploration of addiction and the pursuit of unattainable dreams. The film is not a movie about the dangers of any specific drug, but more the pitfalls of avoiding reality and responsibility more generally, whether that’s via TV, heroin, medication, etc.
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