Requiem for a Dream

It's difficult to be exuberant for a film like Requiem for a Dream. Not only is it difficult for one to display exuberance for the quality of the film you had just witnessed, it's hard to talk upon completion of the film. Your mind has been assaulted for the last hour and forty minutes. You feel numb. Your emotions are beyond dried. You've been watching perhaps the most bleak and dark film you've ever laid witness to. But you realize that it's every bit as brilliant as it is foreboding. It's one of those films that you don't want to see again for a long time, but you know that you eventually will because the call of great cinema is too strong.

It's the second feature of the director of Pi, one of those independent milestones that everyone seems to love. Pi was a visually stimulating film, but lacked the overall depth that would have made it rise to another level. Thankfully Aronofsky has remedied his slight problems for Requiem and made a film that is even more astounding visually and has characters who really live and breathe on screen. With the incredible number of quick cuts and out-of-the-ordinary cinematic techniques, Aronofksy has cemented himself as one of the more intriguing directors working today. He not only employs such a wide range of techniques to increase the aesthetic, he actually uses them to aid the story he's relating.

Another gift of Aronofsky's is the way in which he handles his actors. He clearly expects an awful lot from them. The actors in this tale clearly trust their director to do whatever it takes to adequately represent the story that they read on the pages of Hubert Selby and Aronofsky's script. They read about the parts they would play, and the controversial scenes that they would be portraying. Undoubtedly there was some hesitation. It was Aronofsky who convinced them that they were right for the part and that they could do it like nobody else could.

Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is an aging, television-loving member of a retirement complex. Her one dream in life is to appear on television, and when that promise comes with the ring of the telephone she develops an obsession with fitting into her old red dress for her upcoming appearance. Getting to that point won't be easy, so she asks for help from the doctor, who quickly prescribes diet pills. Her son, Harry (Jared Leto), comes by occasionally to take her television and sell it for drug money. His girlfriend, Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and best friend, Tyrone (Marlon Wayans), join Harry in his flirts with a drug-induced ecstasy. They're all mildly addicted... for a while. It's just the beginning of the purging of promising lives, and one of the most harrowing tales ever committed to film.

As much as Aronofsky's visual style sprinkles heavily over the film, the actors constantly amaze. Burstyn is absolutely phenomenal, giving the performance of the year. Leto and Wayans are equally good as the drug dealers. Jennifer Connelly invests the most in her role, and sacrifices herself for the sake of the film. It's a risky performances which pays dividends. In her role she suffers all the double standards between men and women, and all the feelings of vulnerability associated with her exploited sexuality.

Starting off with visual quirks (the first split screen appears about five seconds in) and a wonderful progressive score by Clint Mansell, Requiem for a Dream is a relentless barrage of images and emotions. It's clear that it's the most accomplished film of the year and one of the most courageous attempts ever by a film to show the effects of drug abuse. The final act is one of the most harrowing I have ever seen, leaving you squirming in your seat. You know that a film is amazing if the second the film ends, nobody moves from sheer exhaustion. Such was the case with Requiem for a Dream.

On a scale of 1 to 10 roaring refrigerators : 10

[Note: Rated NC-17 initially, then was withdrawn by Artisan to be released Unrated. Was rated NC-17 because of the very graphic sexual situations and the numerous instances of drug use.]