Overall Rating
  Awesome: 69.44%
Worth A Look: 13.19%
Average: 6.25%
Pretty Bad: 4.51%
Total Crap: 6.6%
12 reviews, 216 user ratings
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| Requiem for a Dream |
by Greg Muskewitz
"It renews your appreciation for film!"
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One of my favorite things about this profession is "discovering" new talent. Chances are, if I'm going to make a big deal out of it, it will receive a substantial amount of critical backing. It's almost a sixth sense, a gift of being prescient --I don't make a point of something because I think all the critics will, I do it because I'm impressed. And it is, admitedtly a nice feeling to find out afterwards that others are in, or following your steps, so to say. That was the case for "Pi," writer/director Darren Aronofsky's brilliantly stunning debut. I instantly recognized his work and his style as something I immensely enjoyed, and his follow up, "Requiem for a Dream" is in no way a let down. As a matter of fact, "Requiem for a Dream" is one of the best films I've seen in 2000.To give it a superficial label, "Requiem" is a junkie movie. An unordinary junkie movie. An unordinary hyperkinetic junkie movie. An unordinary, highly stylized, gritty hyperkinetic junkie movie --unlike anything you've seen before. Adapted from his own novel, Hubert Selby, Jr. and Aronofsky tell the tale of four lost souls trying to break away from the hole they've been placed in, hoping to find happiness in some sort of material possession. It sounds like something platitudinous, but you've never seen it done like this.
Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto) and friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are druggies and pushers. They're from the impecunious streets of Brooklyn, and their master plan is to make some money with the drugs they've got, buy better stuff, use a little, sell the rest, and then buy the "real" stuff and permanently retire off of their profits. Marion (Jennifer Connelly) is Harry's girlfriend, and when they interact, you get the feeling that they're really in love. She wants a happy, mapped and secured life, and Harry (the entrepreneur) can offer that. Marion wants escape and independence from her parents, and the money Harry and Tyrone will score should secure it.
Lastly is Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), Harry's mother. He's all she has left in the world, until she's notified she will be called to be on a TV program ("I'm somebody now Harry. Somebody likes me. It's a reason to get up in the morning.") --and the cultish, brainwashing show she does watch is quite odd on its own. She becomes completely obsessed and it ultimately destroys her, not just by getting addicted to drugs for weightloss ("Pep? Ma, I can here you grindin' your teeth from here."), but by becoming delusional and oblivious to her real needs. As the title suggests, it's a tragic --on all counts-- outcome.
The immediate feeling following "Requiem for a Dream" is uncomfortable and cold; a strong feeling of being disturbed. It's a gritty, wry, grotesque slice of unfair life. Aronofsky involves you from the get-go of the story. You don't necessarily like the characters or what they do, but you understand their struggle, you sympathize --in some shape or form, we're all after it. It's more than just fitting in, it's finding a place in life and being comfortable with it. There's a strong sense of deterioration; the film manages to convincingly show it and progressively stay on it at a compelling rate.
"Requiem for a Dream" is destined, like "Pi," to go down as a cult classic, though this felt more as though it was its goal as compared to "Pi," which in the lineage of "Eraserhead," just found itself there naturally and unintentionally.
Aronofsky's visual and storytelling style is unique and original. It sets forth something many directors only wish they could imitate. He made "Pi," with Matthew Libatique's expertise grainy black-and-white photography look stunning and visually empowering. Now in color, Libatique's brilliant, vibrant scheme makes such adept use of it, that the color is some of the best cinematically available. Libatique's usage of the camera and colors is largely noticed through the contrasts and daedal compositions. There are several technicalities, such as some split-screen splicing and awkward POV shots that don't flow with the rest, but otherwise, Jay Rabinowitz's editing, and again Clint Mansell's haunting, electric score complete the impressive technical side.
One of Aronofsky's strong traits in "Pi" was a stock routine of Max taking his pills. Here Aronofsky reuses the concept rigorously in two routines: Sara taking her pills, and Harry and Tyrone shooting up. (Speedy edits, too fast to note, were something like: cutting the drug/boiling it/wrapping belt on arm/entry of drugs into bloodstream/dilation of eyes.) It's obviously not an advocacy for the drugs, it stands out way against them. Usually I don't like scenes where drugs are used, but it's done in such an unconventional and non-offensive, stylish way, it serves as a support. It is unmistakably Aronofskian.
Leto turns in a mature, formidable performance --no doubt something he will grab attention with. He really becomes the character of Harry. (It was nice to see him visit Coney Island, so desolate and deteriorated since my father's childhood; since the way it looked in "The Little Fugitive.") Connelly, younger in appearance every time I see her, is very catchy and well photographed. She has begun to auspiciously take on after Patricia Arquette's calm and cool stature in films. (However, there is one unnecessary and gratuitously tawdry scene that involves a body double for Connelly, a tube of lubricant, and a dual anal prod. The seamy pornographic montage is mercifully cut up into flashes which don't last too long. It's really the only thorn this faces.) Wayans, although hilariously silly in "Scary Movie" shows here that he has serious talent. Marlon Wayans really has some acting chops, and it was great to see him use them. Best of all is Burstyn. Her Jewish incarnation and careful observation is a paragon of becoming the character and making it live. (Even more so than Jeffrey Wright did in "Shaft.") Burstyn envelops Sara and goes through a transubstantiation so metamorphic, so real, it's disturbing but so well done. It's a performance that's going to be noticed and talked about.
"Pi" was beat out by a hair in 1998 for my number one slot by "Pleasantville." I think that happened because in "Pleasantville," good was the dominant substance, and it's general happiness managed to wing it slightly ahead. Now two years later, "Pi" is a much more impressionable film for me (although I still love "Pleasantville"). It was a simple choice of good over melancholy. Aronofsky has proved himself one of my favorite filmmakers with just two films. He brings me to places I've never been. They let you experience something not offered anywhere else. I strongly anticipate anything he does, and "Requiem for a Dream" is really a film you must see. As unnerving and grotesque as it may be, it paints a portrait that can never be recreated. This film stays with you and haunts you long after you see it. Films like this are invigorating. Not only do they renew your passion and appreciation for film, but it amplifies it!Final Verdict: A+.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=3914&reviewer=172
originally posted: 10/20/00 10:27:58
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USA
03-Nov-2000 (NR)
DVD: 26-Feb-2002
UK
N/A
Australia
08-Feb-2001 (MA)
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