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Requiem For A Dream
By Andy - 08.19.01
Well, after contributing a few IM convos to Virtual Fools, I’ve decided to write an actual article. I’m going to write about one of my favorite movies, Requiem for a Dream. Just for a little background, Darren Aronofsky, the director of Requiem for a Dream, also directed Pi, the movie that got me interested in his work. Pi was a fascinating film about one man’s search for the key to understanding pretty much all existence. After I saw Pi, I was almost set in a trance. It had been a long time since a movie had really affected me in such a way after watching it. I’ll write an article about Pi later.
So after I watched Pi, I eagerly awaited his second film, hoping that it would not succumb to the well-known disasters of following a well-done debut. It came out last October, but only in L.A. and N.Y. That pissed me off quite a bit, so I had to wait until it came out on video. When it finally came out on video, I checked out Rosemary’s Baby as well. Rosemary’s Baby was a big disappointment with minor scares, but needless to say, it’s not exactly a movie that put a smile on my face. So after watching that, I popped in Requiem for a Dream. I was completely unprepared for the cinematic genius and powerful message of the film.
The film starts out with Sara Goldfarb, played by an unrecognizable Ellen Burstyn, chaining her TV to the radiator in order to prevent her son Harry from taking it and selling it again for drug money. It’s no use, however, when Harry and his friend Tyrone free it and wheel it down to the pawn shop. We then meet Harry’s girlfriend Marion, played by Jennifer Connelly who gives one of her best performances. Marion is addicted to drugs as well. Sara also has an addiction: television and food.
Sara’s television addiction is centered on a weight-loss infomercial show. After receiving a call saying that she could be a contestant for the show of her dreams, her only goal is to lose weight and fit into her favorite red dress. She tries dieting but all it does is make her want to eat more. She decides to take diet pills to help lose the weight. Soon she is able to fit into the red dress, but she continues to take the diet pills to feed her addiction and to fight off all doubts, contrary to reality, that her hopes of being on television may be false.
Marion and Harry have dreams of scoring one big drug deal to get enough money to start a clothing store and go clean forever. They quickly accumulate mass amounts of money. However, their addictions get the best of them, to no one’s surprise. Soon, their money has depleted in order to feed their growing drug addiction. Marion’s dream of starting a clothing store has disappeared; her only focus is how to get the next hit, no matter what it takes. Harry and Tyrone continue to look for a source of more drugs to deal in Florida.
All of the characters continue to spiral further and further downwards into hell. The film begins during summer and ends with winter. There is no spring in the movie. There is no rebirth.
Darren Aronofsky uses camera techniques similar to that of other visionary newcomers such as Guy Ritchie and David Fincher. He uses what is considered to be cliché camera tricks and uses them in such a way that makes them incredibly effective.
Watch this film no matter what. Just make sure you aren’t in a suicidal mood when you watch it, otherwise you’ll most surely act upon those suicidal tendencies.
:: Andy ::
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