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• Overly stylised, but a much cleaner second half with a harrowing ending. posted on 30 Aug 2009

  For the most part this movie ambles along, caught up in a few stylistic touches that it doesn't quite manage to deliver. The repeating mundane and reinforcing dialogue and visuals just go to remind you of events and circumstance that you already know.However, it is in the second half of the film where it really gets its message forward. It shows how four peoples lives career out of control when drugs begin to take over their lives, and not all from the illegal point of view.From the second half it's a very interesting and compelling film, dropping to total despair by the last twenty minutes. The final sequence is one of the most harrowing to endure in the movies I've seen in the last few years, and tackles the issues head on without flinching.Overly stylised it certainly is, but if you can endure those moments and progress onto the latter part of the movie you will have a head on crash with the ending. Harrowing is hardly the word.I have to say, stunning performance from Jennifer Connelly, and an equally amazing and surprising show from Marlon Wayans. Dump that Wayans trade mark movie and get into the real thing.

• Astonishing masterpiece posted on 28 Aug 2009

  Let me put it like this: So far, this is the best film I have ever seen. You get sucked into this film and afterwards, if using drugs ever crossed your mind, you will never ever even dare to think about that again.I do not think there is a better way to picture the dangers of drugs. I am not going into the details of the storyline, yet I do want to point out that drug abuse is not the only thing this film is warning about. Anybody care for some chocolate? No thanks, I'm on a diet.The acting is pretty decent and up to very good. Ellen Burstyn does an excellent job, for which she rightfully received an Oscar nomination. It is also good to see Marlon Wayans in a serious role in stead of acting like fool. I feel he did a pretty good job.Truly and deeply recommendable.

• One of the worst movies ever made posted on 24 Aug 2009

  2/10 The reason this movie is third on my bottom of the barrel list (after the Matrix and the Patriot) is because its plot is so simply stupid it is mind numbing. It just shows things getting worse and worse for people until it stops. THATS IT! Let me pitch you a story: Bob loses his job, he finds out his wife is cheating on him, and he then gets robbed. End of story. Why is that so great? If you can answer that then maybe you can explain why this movie has any merit. Oh and p.s., if any fan of this movie is interested in how the director copied some of his techniques, watch Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels for the same scene where Jennifer Connely leaves the hotel and throws up.
  Also watch Perfect Blue for the scene where Jen Connely is sitting in the bathtub.

• Shaking, impressive, rhythmic posted on 24 Aug 2009

  The title was already promising. Then I watched it, slightly stoned, and the outstanding editing, the mixture of slow and fast pace, and the music (that I think it is a free adaptation of a requiem) takes you in a crescendo visual trip to a final apotheosis that takes your breath away.There is this undertone of the Crime and Punishment theme. Let's face it, it is a pessimistic movie, but if anyone knows of someone that took this twisted road of drugs, you know that's how things are likely to develop. It is an overdose of reality that gives it credibility.The plot stands out of other drug movies like Trainspotting or Drugstore Cowboy thanks to the old lady's personal addiction hell.I don't get tired of watching it and I recommend it to everyone. Thanks to Darren and all the crew for shaking us to the bone.

• Intense posted on 22 Aug 2009

  Not since the opening thirty minutes of Saving Private Ryan have I seen a more intense piece of filmmaking. Terrific acting (Ellen Burstyn should be given an Oscar right now), hyperkinetic editing, and a tremendous score by Kronos Quartet (who also worked on Heat), Requiem for a Dream is an amazing, disturbing film. It's power made it one of the best films I have ever seen, and one film that I never want to have to watch again.

• .....haunting the viewer long after the final fade. posted on 18 Aug 2009

  (I originally wrote this review for a journalism class. It's my first film review, and i hope to write many more in the future.)I have a theory that the longer it takes me to utter a word at the close of a film, the harder it has hit me. After walking away from Requiem for a Dream, it took me forever to utter even a sigh. I felt as if I had just watched a car accident, and I could remember every gruesome detail.Requiem for a Dream is terrible, haunting film; the kind of film that's dark images that might chase me into nightmares. The film is a nightmare. When I say this I am not speaking from a critical standpoint and this is not a `horror' movie in regular context. However, this piece, about the horrors of drug addiction, is not for the faint of heart. The film was critically a masterpiece, perhaps the best I have seen this year.Requiem was written and directed by Darren Arnofsky, better known for another dark film about life, Pi (1998). Requiem revolves around a young dreamer named Harry Goldfarb, (Jared Leto of My So Called Life, Fight Club) and his widowed mother, Sarah (Ellen Burstyn of The Yards, Deceiver). The film also features Marlon Wayans (of Scary Movie, In Living Color on television), and Jennifer Connelly (of Dark City, Labyrinth).This isn't the average, run of the mill `Drugs are Bad' stereotypical film, despite the fact it was Arnofsky's mission to create a film that dutifully rendered the theme of the book it was loosely based on, Hubert Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn, A book about the ills of drug addiction. Instead, the extraordinary cinematic technique of Arnofsky makes it hard to look away. He uses sped up sequences, split screen shooting, and various camera angles as a few `brushes' to illustrate the film's basic storyline.Harry Goldfarb (Leto) and his best friend Tyrone (Wayans) have big plans. By getting hold of a fine score of Heroin they are able to cut it themselves and sell it on the streets. With Harry's end of the profit he wants to assist his girlfriend, Marion (Connelly) in making her clothing boutique a dream come true. Somewhere along the line major complications arise, the three frequent the drug more often, and the three are thrown into a wild mix of various trouble with drugs, violence, and the police.Meanwhile Harry's mother, Sarah, (Burstyn) has settled into a painful and lonely routine of cooking and cleaning. After a phone call from a television game show scout, Sarah wants to diet and look her best. She has even picked out her best dress to wear on television. When her diet seems certain to fail she enlists the help of a doctor. Without so much as a care he prescribes her pills in the form of speed. At first these pills work, yet she slowly becomes addicted, abusing the medication. As time drags on she eventually loses track of herself and reality.Requiem is a shocking look into the world of addiction and denial. The film painstakingly focuses on a mere heartbeat of the lives of Harry, his mother, Tyrone, and Marion. It glorifies and downplays their personal day to day struggles, their fears and hopes, and the eventual destruction of everything around them through their respective addictions.Arnofsky and his cinematographer Matthew Libatique have put the film together is such a manner that time races by when it's characters are on their drugs, yet it seems to drag when they're not. The feeling that the characters believe that life between highs is dull, and they are waiting for the next hit becomes hauntingly evident. In addition the scenes of drug induced highs are bright and busy, while those without are seemingly drab and clouded. One thing that got to me was how dimly lit each of the character's apartments were how little sun came in, the emptiness, and openness of each. In one scene Harry is walking out a pier in the beautiful summer sunshine to Marion, who is waiting patiently in a red dress. I found it interesting since in one of Connelly's latest films, Dark City, she is featured in a similar sequence. It is also interesting to note that Ajay Naidu, Sean Gulette, and Samia Shaoib, who appear in small roles, were also in Arnofsky's film, Pi.One of the most influential techniques in this tale is the music. Clint Mansell (Who worked on Pi as well) employed The Kronos Quartet to perform every song on the soundtrack, such as aptly titled pieces `Ghosts of Things to Come' and `The Beginning of the End.' Each piece is as haunting and nervous as the images on screen, and the music is impossible to ignore as a reminder of the tension and collapse. It is equally as powerful as the film in haunting the viewer long after the final fade.

• Dare yourself to see this movie posted on 18 Aug 2009

  Typically when I see a movie, I see it once, then never really think about it. If I really like a movie, which is not often, I'll watch it again if the chance is given. Anything past twice, is a rarity. Only a small select list of movies I can stand watching more than twice and never get bored. Requiem for a Dream is now on that list. I saw this movie three times in the theaters, and ended up weeping every time at the end. This is truly one of the best films I have ever sat down to watch. Screw D.A.R.E, give this movie to schools, and watch the drug problem disappear. You feel like when watching this movie that you know these characters. These are your brothers, sisters, mothers, blood relatives. It is one of the most gut wrenching films ever. While people are wonder how some films are able to be R when they should be NC-17. The MPAA did a grave injustice of making this NC-17. This is a must see for anyone who wanders the dark side of drugs. While Traffic, also a good film, covered the broad range of drugs from different views, this took the side of the actual user and showed the cold hard reality.

• hard to watch, but worth the time posted on 18 Aug 2009

  This movie may be the hardest movie I have ever had to get through in terms of watching people destroy themselves. The performances in this movie are amazing and you feel their pain with each fix. That and Wayans redeems himself for D&D. I don't need to mention Ellen Burstyn. But I think I need to mention a very underrated actor despite the small part. Keith David. This guy chews up the screen whether you see him or just hear his voice. Great cast, great director, great movie. Downward spiral. Rock bottom. Damn it's hard to watch these people fall, but it's easy to watch a superbly structured film.

• DIE, JUNKIE! DIE! DIE! posted on 12 Aug 2009

  This is truly the most tedious, boring, trite, contrived and uninspired film I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. It was so boring that I wanted to walk out of the cinema after the first hour. My companion almost fell asleep. I felt nothing for the characters, who were not really established as rounded, believable people. Some of the visual tricks were repeated constantly and lost all novelty or interest after the first hour. At that point the direction of the plot also became utterly predictable and it just felt so horrendously repetitious. I felt like getting up and shouting at the screen "Die, junkie! Die! Die! I want to get out of here! ", but I didn't want to disturb the other patrons.***SLIGHT SPOILER *** I was also very offended at the way ECT Treatment was shown in the film. The participant was fully awake. Now I don't know about the U.S, but people are generally knocked out when they receive this treatment in the U.K., and have been for at least 20 years (I know someone who has had the treatment). This is treatment of last resort for people who don't respond to any other kind of treatment. It is not perfect and can have unfortunate side effects, but has saved a lot of people from the slough of despond or even suicide. This was the last straw in destroying any limited respect I might have had for the director. He is just a purveyor of sensationalist claptrap masquerading as deep social comment. *****SPOILER ENDS****.I don't care that it had a worthy theme - addictions are bad and can destroy your life. The theme has been trawled over so many times that we don't need another attempt, especially one as bad as this. Though it might shock and offend the very sensitive, it didn't shock me. I didn't seem real for even a moment. If anything the visual tricks were wasted, because they just had a distancing effect. All in all, I can honestly say this is the worst film I have ever seen.

• Requiem for a Loser posted on 12 Aug 2009

  Disastrous addiction movie that wears out its welcome very quickly. Between the MTV editing (useless split screens, repeated montages, etc.), weak performances, and aimless story, this morality tale has nothing to offer that hasn't been done better elsewhere. The over-acting and the pretentious script produce numerous moments of unintended hilarity. Destined to become a future generation's Reefer Madness.

• An Incredible film posted on 10 Aug 2009

  Id heard a lot of hype about his movie.I've had the chance to view it and after watching this film I can Honestly say it is the most gut wrenching, brutally realistic portrayal of drug addiction ever committed to celluloid.This movie portrays drug use from the innocent to the recreational/hardcore user.And it does not stop there.It grabs you by the throat and keeps on pushing.It builds Tempo crescendos in an all out orgy of self-deprivation.A must see for anyone that thinks drugs are "cool".I could not have prepared myself for seeing this movie straight. As a active user of Illict substances this movie makes you think twice about the consequences of pushing it to far.The acting,cinematography,editing push the movie into the "cult classic" genre.A must see for anyone involved in the recreational drug scene.

• A wake up call, everyone needed. posted on 10 Aug 2009

  Best movie I've ever seen. Honestly. Next to Fight Club, this movie is #1. I can't get over how the director makes you want to baul, yet scream at Sara for being naive, or Tell Marion that Harry won't make it home, and how it'll be their last time to see each other. I recently finished the book, which was fantastic. The movie has such emotion, I ended up crying for about a half hour when it was all done (I'm a chick :P ) This definitely has turned me away to drugs, it's such a scare factor, yet it's so real. This happens every day to people. If you haven't seen it yet, GO SEE IT!!! I own it, and I've seen it about 20 times. Jared Leto gives an awesome performance, but not as great as Ellen Burstyn. Marlon Waynes did a wonderful job a very serious movie, since he's usually in comedys.

• Do not watch while under the influence of ANYTHING. posted on 08 Aug 2009

  **SPOILERS**Drugs, alcohol, painkillers, don't even watch this if you've taken ASPIRIN within the last 24 hours. Requiem For A Dream is extremely moving and powerful and REAL and it could only bring out the worst of any type of mind-altering substance. I watched this film stone sober and in the middle of the night, and when it was over I was almost afraid that the sun wasn't going to come up in the morning. This is one of the most powerful anti-drug movies to have been released in years.And the thing that really sets this film apart is that it is not a crash course in all of the bad side effects of drugs. There are numerous characters in several different storylines that all converge and deliver a unique message. This is one of the things that made movies like American Beauty so good, there is just so much going on. The film is a spiraling downfall for all of the characters involved, but it manages to have an unusually strong impact because of its realism, which is ironic because one of the film's strong points is its striking use of editing. There is a constant use of creative and disorienting editing and cinematography, which gives the film a feeling of being a little off at all times, but it manages to remain realistic enough not to lose any impact.As far as editing, I was particularly impressed with the creative use of the split screen. The film starts off with a scene in which Harry (Jared Leto) borrows his mother's television set, and she is so upset that she locks herself in the other room. In the split screen, we see Harry from two different angles, and on one side, we see broken shots, while the other side shows continuous action. This is done with multiple cameras, so it's not the sheer difficulty that I noticed as much as the creativeness. And of course, being a drug film, it is full of interesting and sometimes disturbing editing and cinematography.Jared Leto is excellent as Harry Goldfarb, a junkie who wants to sell enough drugs to really support himself, his girlfriend, his partner in trafficking (Tyrone), and most importantly, his mother. The relationship between Harry and his mother Sarah is the one from which the majority of the emotion in the film is derived, as well as from his girlfriend Marion's descent into drug-induced prostitution. Ellen Burstyn is stunningly effective as Sarah Goldfarb, Harry's mother, who lives exactly the existence that you spend your entire youth hoping to never have to live. She is alone, she's overweight and unattractive, and she's so obsessed with getting onto a stupid TV show just one time that she goes on such an intense crash diet that she literally drives herself insane. The antagonistic refrigerator, by the way, is one of the more interesting things about the film, and should also be noted for its originality. What was the last respectable film you saw in which an inanimate object like a refrigerator was made to have such a successfully menacing presence? Jennifer Connelly has changed dramatically from the cute actress that we saw in older movies like Labyrinth and Career Opportunities and The Rocketeer. In Requiem For A Dream, she delivers a spectacular performance, proving her skill as an actor. But it is the performance from Marlon Wayans that is by far the most surprising and noteworthy. He plays the part of Tyrone with such amazing skill that it is almost impossible to believe that this is the same idiot that we saw in the god-awful Scary Movies. Way to go, Marlon, but stick with the movies that can be enjoyed by people with more than one brain cell in operation, like Requiem For A Dream.(spoilers) Another thing that this movie does on more than one occasion is give an example of How People Get Like That. Every time I see or hear about a homeless person or a mental patient (which is not often, I admit) or a woman so strung out on drugs that she would sell her body to get her fix, I always wonder what must have happened in that person's life for them to have wound up like that. Requiem For A Dream provides a perfectly plausible story in which a nice but rather pathetic woman becomes obsessed with her chance to appear on television and winds up getting electro-shock therapy against her will in a mental hospital, and then we see that Marion winds up engaging in lesbian shows for crowds of drunken jerk-offs, and Harry shoots up so much in the same arm that he has to have it amputated. These are the kinds of things that make you wonder how they got like that, and in this movie we see how it happened and its believable.Requiem for a Dream is not one of the most cheery movies I've ever seen, in fact, it is downright disturbing at many points, but it is powerful and effective and should be noted for that. The film is photographed and edited in creative and interesting ways, which not only makes it fascinating to watch but also enhances the drug element of the film, which was also a technique used with huge success in the must more well known film Traffic. There is a lot of difficult to watch material in this movie, but it is a very well thought out film. Not for the weak of heart, but this is an excellent piece of cinematography.

• A Credo for Reality posted on 08 Aug 2009

  Requiem for a dream: a beautiful name for a film, wherein people are driven, like lunatics, to their little, only for a moment, suspension of the unbearable lightness of their incredible desires just as Stanley Kubrick showed us in A Clockwork Orange. A requiem for all those who purchase the candles for hope in a world where immediately satisfaction is like a candle in the church of their dreams, followed by a requiem: let us not forget them who showed us the credo of reality.

• A beautiful yet disturbing masterpiece posted on 06 Aug 2009

  I think we're all sick of being told that drugs are bad and you shouldn't do them. That's why it's my opinion that Requiem for a Dream should be shown to all high-school kids rather than those corny, 80's specials. This would frighten even the most hardcore herion-addicts, never mind a pimple-covered pubescent.Seriously though, Requiem for a dream is not just another anti-drug movie. If thats all you see then you're missing the big picture. It illustrates the similarities between heroin addiciton and weight-loss, coke and sexual desire. That's why the movie is so disturbing, because it shows that these problems are one in the same. Someone like me would like to think that these junkies are so different than us and that that would never happen to us, but this movie shows how easily I could be just like them.This movie features beautiful directing using split-screen shots, eerie blue lighting, and overall excellent cinematography. It also has the best original score I've ever seen (or heard?) Clint Mansell's dramatic and powerful music adds so much more intensity to the screen that by the end of climax the viewer is left breathless.Truly an excellent movie on all accounts and I look forward to seeing more work from this extremely talented director. And a must-see for those planning on being drug-addicts in the near future

• If you want to start an anti-drug campaign, use this movie posted on 06 Aug 2009

  The movie starts with this guy Harry who is getting the television out of his mothers house to sell it for drugs. Than you see him and his friend Tycone use it and get high, and a few minutes later we meet Harry's girlfriend marion and these are the main characters, Harry, Tycone, Marion and Harry's mother Sarah. Harry and Tycone are running a drug-scam and are doing very well, he's crazy in love with his girlfriend and vice versa, and his mother is getting on a tv show and starts using diet pills. All the main characters feel great but then things go wrong, Tycone escapes a hit and ends up in jail, but their partners in crime got killed. When Harry bails Tycone out of the jail, they realize they have to start all over again with their drug scam but they can't get it going on any more. In the mean time Harry's mother is getting addicted on the diet pills, and see uses them more and more, and to get money for drugs for themselves, Harry's girlfriend starts being a prostitute. It gets worse and worse for all of them and at the end they all bear the dreadful consequences of their drug-addiction.I kept my summary short so I wouldn't give away to much of the movie. This movie is a must-see movie and I found it quite shocking to watch. What I also liked about the movie is the way they shot it with the quick pictures of for example the drug abuse. I think when your young and your in high school everyone, especially in Holland, gets tempted to use drugs and I think if schools just show this movie, instead of the stupid things they showed at our school, you get a lot more people thinking about the dreadful consequences of drug-addiction, and I believe it would help a lot better as drug prevention

• What shall we use... posted on 04 Aug 2009

  This movie is not about drugs. It is not about addiction. It is about the empty spaces in our pointless and meaningless lives and the things that we use to fill them. You see, our minds do not like emptiness and we are desperately looking for something that might help us to get rid of that emptiness along with the guilt and pain associated with it. Something that gives us the right to say "I know who I am. My life has a purpose. I am here for a reason". Whether they realized it or not, the people in the movie chose something to fill those spaces. Something they needed. Something that for a short period of time made their pain go away. Something that gave a meaning to their existence. In the end, they paid a terrible price for it. Sooner or later, we all do. The difference between us and the characters of this movie is that unlike them, we understand the consequences of your actions. At least we convinced ourselves so. Do you think that your way to achieve happiness (or chemical balance in your brain) is the right one? See this movie. You will regret it though because it will make you face the reality for a moment. It will make you look at the choices that you made and reevaluate them. May God have mercy on your soul.

• Drugstore Cowboy did it better... posted on 04 Aug 2009

  I must admit that I was somewhat surprised to see that this film is rated at #46 (at time
  of writing) in the IMDB Top 250. While it was a good film, I don't think that it was
  powerful enough to rate so highly.Perhaps it's that there are relatively few drug-culture films around and that the viewer is
  not accustomed to the shock that the inevitable downward spiral finishes at. Or maybe it
  just got a much wider audience than many of those that came before it.In any case, the film is a good watch, but the highlight by far is the story of the mother
  and her obsession with dieting. I found myself drawn into her story far more than that
  of the other three characters.Overall, I'd give this 7/10. If you liked this, check out Drugstore Cowboy - I think they
  did it better...

• Description of one of the most tense movies ever... posted on 04 Aug 2009

  Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream is one of the most tense movies ever. This movie really has an impact. It would be quite wrong to say that it's a film about drugs. The characters solve various intimate problems; and Aronofsky, through hardly seen games, puts the audience into the skin of his characters. All of them have dreams, all of them lose them after getting too much of them. NB: After watching this movie, you would never put a needle into your arm...:-)))

• Loved it! posted on 02 Aug 2009

  Call me morbid for "enjoying" this one, but if you see it, I'm sure you'll agree. Ellen Burstyn should at minimum be considered for an Oscar. Her scene when she talks to her son on his only visit to her is gut-wrenching - pathetic yet so sincere and real. A stunner!Louise Lasser (Mary Hartman! Mary Hartman!) is in this one, but I didn't realize that til the closing credits unfolded. She was unrecognizable. So keep a lookout for her.All of the performances were very very strong. This is a stunner of a film.