This will Prevent You From Sleeping Tonight

Author's Rating:

Pros: Excellent Cinematic Telling of a Tale of Drug Addiction

Cons: Frightening imagery-may be too much for the general public

The Bottom Line: 
I have to give this my highest rating- it is a definite must see for all cinema buffs.

Author's Review
Requiem for a Dream is really a requiem for a nightmare.






Plot- This film is about the depths of hell one reaches when one becomes addicted to either illegal and prescription drugs. The story is told through four main characters. The film is told through the four seasons. We are taken from the inception of the addiction cycle straight through to the devastating ending that the viewer knows instinctually that can not be far behind. How does one relay a story of the consequences of the drug addicts experience and relate it all to the audience with the expert techniques of an artist combined with the eye of a filmmaker?




Director

Darren Aronofsky is one of this generation’s most innovative directors. The way Stanley Kubrick seemed to set the pace for future films-Darron Aronofsky has raised the proverbial bar and taken cinema to a new height. Requiem for a Dream is his first film to be shot in color. Similar to his other smash film PI –this film utilizes wonderful and innovative camera shots, split screens, and innovative tight and fast moving clips of the essence of what it must be to live the life of a drug addict. Aronofsky cleverly eliminated the use of the color Red throughout the film except for the dying of the main characters hair and her red dress which took control, as part of her telling of her life and her part of the sad tale.


Ellen Burstyn

From the time I first saw Ms. Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore , I thought she was a phenomenal acting force and in Requiem for a Dream she puts in a top performance as a lonely widow , living without a sense of purpose and needing to lose weight for an upcoming television appearance. She becomes hooked on diet pills and starts a downward spiral towards insanity. She undergoes a physical transformation in this film from the dowdy to beautiful to almost a corpselike shell of herself. She puts herself on the line with this film in that she reveals the inner turmoil that her character must go through. I applaud the effort.

Jared Leto

I must admit I have never seen this actor before, but I will be on the lookout for this name in future productions. He plays a heroine addict named Harry, who is the son of the widow played by Ms. Burnstyn. He gave an on edge performance that left you wanting more. His eyes revealed a lot of the torment and anguish that comes from wanting to know where the next dose is coming from and the endless search for the money it takes to fund this habit.


Jennifer Connelly

This is a beautiful young actress who plays the girlfriend of Harry. She is set up to believe that that have a romantic future together until they get hooked on heroine together. She is taken from a sweet innocent lovely girl into the depths of hell as she is forced into prostitution, not by a pimp, but through her self-driven road to needing another push of heroine. It leads to sexual exploitation and the need for more and more money and drugs.


The Setting

The movie itself is home based on the boardwalk of Coney Island. This was my home as a little girl so the sights and sounds of Coney Island were reminiscent of childhood memories. They were clouded by the horror and the transformation into a world I had no part of. This was actually a strange experience, as I had so many happy memories wrapped around the essence of Coney Island. The actual scenes were genuine and accurate.

Family Filmgoer Rating

Do not under any circumstances let anyone under the age of 18 see this film. The images were quite disturbing. There is amputation-sexual exploitation and scenes of insanity treatments that will give most people a lifetime of nightmares. Do not subject anyone under this age to these visual images. They are just too strong.

My Opinion

I adore the film. Although the film is quite disturbing- the artistic merit of the film is beyond reproach. Mr. Aronofsky took the book “ Last Exit to Brooklyn” written by Hubert Selby Jr. and transformed it into a screenplay that literally pops off the screen and into your mind. His characters are dynamic and tell the story of drug addiction in a way that has never been portrayed before. The cinematic effects are art in motion. If this is subject matter that you can see with the eye of an artist I recommend you get a copy and sit down and contemplate the nightmare of a drug addicted life.